ZAGREB, 4 March (2022) - The Sabor has included on its agenda a motion regarding the deployment of 70 Croatian troops as part of NATO's enhanced forward presence in Hungary.

The parliament also put on its agenda the motion for up to five Croatian Armed Forces' members in the European Union's Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRTs).

Lawmakers are expected to debate the motions next week.

The government made a recommendation to the Sabor on Thursday for Croatian troops to participate in the forward presence mission.

Defence Minister Mario Banožić has said that a NATO meeting of defence ministers in February and an extraordinary NATO summit determined that the current situation in Eastern Europe and particularly in Ukraine represents one of the gravest threats to European security in the past decade, adding that all NATO members are dedicated to continuing diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution.

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ZAGREB, 25 Feb 2022 - President Zoran Milanović is attending a virtual emergency meeting of NATO heads of state or government on Friday, convened following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and ahead of the meeting he said that Croatia, as an EU and NATO member, would act within its obligations, Milanović's office said.

He also said that "our role is to be loyal to our allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and to do everything that is possible right now from the humanitarian, human and diplomatic aspect."

"We should also be aware that we are a Western country, a Western culture and civilisation, and that's why we are in NATO," said Milanović.

Earlier, Milanović strongly condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine and met with the heads of the Croatian army and intelligence services.

ZAGREB, 24 Feb 2022 - The Croatian government has adopted a draft decision on deploying up to 10 Croatian soldiers in the NATO Response Force (NRF), the defense ministry stated on Thursday when Russia started invading Ukraine.

The draft decision has been forwarded to President Zoran Milanović, the supreme commander of the armed forces, for adoption, the press release reads.

According to Defence Minister Mario Banožić, Croatian troops will be part of the "Very High Readiness Joint Task Force" (VJTF) within the alliance's Response Force.

That means that they will be ready within a few days.

During the Prague summit in 2002, NATO decided on the establishment of its Response Force, and the Wales summit in 2014 decided on the set-up of VJTF.

In 2015, Croatia's parliament adopted decisions that paved the way for the deployment of Croatian soldiers in those units.

Earlier today, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance had activated its defense plans on the deployment of additional forces in NATO's eastern members.

"Today, the North Atlantic Council decided to activate our defense plans, at the request of our top military commander, General Tod Wolters," Stoltenberg said and added that he has "called a virtual Summit of NATO leaders tomorrow, to address the way forward."

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ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - President Zoran Milanović on Friday said that NATO should not expand to include Ukraine.

"While I'm the president, I will be opposed to NATO expanding anywhere," Milanović told reporters on Friday.

The statement, which is contrary to NATO's "open door policy", comes at a time when tensions between Russia, which has been amassing troops on the border with Ukraine, and Western countries, which are warning against a possible invasion of that country, are coming to the boil.

To withdraw its troops, Russia is asking, among other things, for guarantees that NATO will not expand to include Ukraine.

"I think that anyone advocating NATO's enlargement to Ukraine threatens also Croatian interests. We are in NATO and tomorrow someone could order our people to be deployed there," explained Milanović.

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14 February, 2022 - The American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is docking in Split from 11 to 15 February, and members of its crew who visited this biggest Croatian Adriatic city on Monday expressed satisfaction with their stay.

"Food is incredible. The sights are amazing as well," Lieutenant Patrick Hageman, a pilot of an MH-60 Sierra helicopter, said after a sightseeing tour. He added that people "are welcoming" and that he "loves this city."

On Sunday, some of the 6,000-strong crew visited the Maestral home for children and helped in landscaping and cleaning the exterior of the home.

PM visits aircraft carrier 

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his ministers for defence, foreign and home affairs on Monday visited the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

They met with the commanding officer, Captain Gavin Duff, the Strike Group commander, Rear Admiral Curt Renshaw, and the Chargé d'Affaires at the US Embassy in Zagreb, Mark Fleming.

Addressing the ship's crew and guests, Plenković said that NATO is not a threat to anyone, and that the US and Croatia have a good strategic relationship. 

The US Embassy said this is a routine visit aimed at strengthening the defence partnership between the United States and key allies and partners across the world. It is also a chance for the sailors to experience other cultures and take a rest from their demanding duties.

The US sailors also hosted representatives of the Croatian and foreign media and showed them around the 330-metre-long vessel.

14 February, 2022 - NATO isn't a threat to anyone, it's a defence alliance of states that live and promote freedom, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday during a visit to the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which has been docked in the port of Split since last Friday.

US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is a symbol of the US commitment to NATO and the defence of our common values -- freedom and democracy, said the Croatian prime minister.

The Croatian premier said that the presence of the aircraft carrier Truman was also a symbol or our time, in which we must speak with a unanimous, strong, transatlantic voice -- and say clearly that we are united in the defence of freedoms and democracies of our countries, as well as in securing peace and stability in Europe and the transatlantic area.

Plenković underscored that NATO wasn't a threat to anyone.

NATO is a defence alliance of states that live and promote freedom. By strengthening unity in NATO, we promote peace just like we did together in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and the Mediterranean, and just like we still do in Kosovo and on the Baltic coasts, the prime minister said.

Three days ago the USS Truman docked in Split, which has been a friendship city of Los Angeles for 28 years.

In recent weeks, the crew of the aircraft carrier have participated together with the Croatian colleagues in the NATO-led maritime exercise Neptune Strike in the Adriatic Sea.

Plenković wished the crew calm seas, and Captain Gavin Duff thanked Croatia for its warm welcome and said that the crew had enjoyed the cuisine and culture of Split.

We look forward to continuing our warm relations with Croatian and in the maritime domain we will expand our capabilities, capacities and interoperability with a key ally in NATO, said Rear Admiral Curt Renshaw, the commander of a carrier strike group.

February the 7th, 2022 - The Croatian King ICT company's system will protect no less than NATO from the ever-present threat of cyber attacks.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although the Croatian defense industry has a relatively modest range of deliveries to its clients within NATO, the IT sector has been strongly involved in a number of projects and tenders of the North Atlantic Alliance for many years now, the most recent example being the Croatian King ICT company's contract. This Zagreb-based company delivered and implemented to NATO's Communications and Information Agency (NCI) an advanced solution in the field of cyber security with their entire IT infrastructure, worth a massive 7.8 million euros.

The biggest project so far

As reported by King ICT, the company has delivered its largest international project to date in the field of cyber security in full, within the budget and ahead of schedule.

“The SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solution is a key system for more successful defense against cyber attacks and will be used as part of the services that NCI provides to NATO. More than 40 experts have worked on this project, and that included the delivery and implementation of an advanced SIEM solution in the field of cyber security with a complete state-of-the-art IT infrastructure. Like all major NATO projects, this one required a very high level of expertise and commitment in areas such as project management, implementation and management of all aspects of quality, logistics, support, demanding testing and knowledge transfer,'' they explained from the Croatian King ICT enterprise.

They added that SIEM is an area of ​​computer security, where software products and services combine security information management and security event management. They provide a real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and the network hardware. In its announcement, they pointed out that the delivered SIEM system will significantly raise the security level of the organisation and contribute to the protection of NATO's critical data and communication system.

An extremely successful year for this Zagreb company

The Zagreb-based IT company noted that last year, still marked by the coronavirus pandemic, was extremely successful and that they expect revenue growth of more than 10 percent than the year before, when their revenue amounted to 636 million kuna, which could bring them closer to their record results from back in 2018, which stood at a very impressive 817 million kuna.

“Our overall business focus remained on the complete digitalisation of key customer business processes through the delivery of our own solutions and professional services on the most modern technological platforms of global manufacturers. We're locally present over on the Benelux market and we're strengthening our position here on the regional market. We've increased our capacities and abilities to provide services within the XaaS business model and the number of services on our own platforms that we offer to the market,'' they stated from the Croatian King ICT company.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

December the 2nd, 2021 - The Croatian Galeb company has impressed no less than NATO for the second time around. They're now on their very own export offensive of sorts.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the business of the Omis-based Galeb, since 1951, when several hundred workers worked with the machines of the time boiling and intertwining the first cotton threads, all the way to today's company with more than 340 workers, a common denominator has remained present - success.

The Croatian Galeb company is interesting as it is currently the only vertically integrated manufacturer of knitted products in all of Croatia, it's also a strong, large enterprise and exporter with a prominent position and results in the Croatian textile industry. It also stands out because of its strategic focus on development and innovation.

In addition to all of the above, despite the strengthening of competition for imported products, the Croatian Galeb company has successfully maintained the entire production process and distribution in Croatia, through its own retail and wholesale network in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In addition, they're in a new development phase with the aim of rejuvenating their well known brand, in order to increase the share of customers from the young population while retaining their existing loyal customers. That includes, they say, their so-called ''export offensive''. The business of this important component of the Tekstilpromet Group is managed by director Josip Aracic.

''Our complete production process "from the yarn to the finished products" takes place in Omis - the production of knitwear, chemical finishing, design, tailoring, sewing and packaging, and with more than 340 employees, today we're the only vertically integrated manufacturer of knitted products in Croatia, which continuously invests in the latest technological breakthroughs. This occurs in all phases of textile production, as well as in the expertise and knowledge of our employees, whose craft and skill we're proud of,'' said Aracic, adding that all of Galeb's products have been tested with a very precise method and they have the Oeko-Tex 100 certificate to their name, too.

This is confirmed once a year through testing at a German licensed institute. Thus, for their 100 percent ''healthy'' products, in the year in which they celebrate their 70th birthday, in the midst of a global pandemic, they have concluded new, extremely significant deals. They are especially looking forward to the new job they just got for NATO.

This is otherwise the Croatian Galeb company's second contract for the delivery of goods to NATO, which is obviously an additional indicator of their quality and competitiveness.

"We believe that getting a new job for NATO is a great reference that will be used in Galeb's business. It's a demanding procedure with a number of specifics, among other things because it isn't known for whom exactly the items are being procured and that a very large number of bidders were invited to compete with their bids, so we got the job amid strong international competition,'' said Aracic of the deal.

The new job for NATO in the segment is functional underwear, within the framework of a signed three-year contract with the possibility of an extension. This definitely sets the Omis company apart from the rest of the textile industry as it is the only one that has managed to meet NATO's incredibly high tender standards twice during Croatian independence.

With many years of experience and cooperation in equipping the military industry in the Republic of Croatia and abroad under their belts, they have achieved exceptional business references and, according to Aracic, they're very much ready for new challenges and further growth with constant innovation.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

ZAGREB, 18 Nov 2021- Respects were paid to Vukovar and Škabrnja victims at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and that gesture sends a strong message that the truth about the events of Croatia's Homeland War has crossed Croatian borders, said Defence Minister Mario Banožić, the Ministry of Defence reported on Thursday.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of Vukovar, Remembrance Day for Homeland War Victims, and Vukovar and Škabrnja Remembrance Day, the Croatian flag was flown at half-mast to commemorate all Vukovar and Škabrnja victims.

Minister Banožić said that the gesture sent a strong message that the truth about the events of the Homeland War had crossed the borders of our country, which was an additional motive for continuing to promote the truth about the Homeland War, especially among young people.

"Today we are reminded of the importance of collective security and how much easier it would have been for us to oppose threats to our territorial integrity during the Homeland War if we had been a member of NATO then. Today, the Republic of Croatia and the Croatia Armed Forces are appreciated among their allies and partners, which show how much we have done in the past 30 years and that with will, effort and perseverance there are no impossible goals," said Defence Minister Mario Banožić.

He underscored that Croatia was a responsible ally that contributed to international missions, global peace, and security, the ministry said.

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ZAGREB, 17 Sept 2021 - Croatia will continue to support Montenegro's European path as a pro-European Montenegro is important as a neighbour and NATO partner, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said on the Brijuni archipelago on Friday, where Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović wrapped up a two-day visit to Croatia.

The two presidents exchanged information and views on Montenegro's EU accession negotiations as well as the situation in Montenegro and Southeast Europe, Milanović's office said in a press release.

Montenegro should continue to develop as a democratic, secular and pro-European state, said Đukanović.

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