LONDON, Feb 11 (Hina) - Great Britain will support Croatia's wish to become a full member of NATO, Croatian Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul said after talks with the British Secretary of State for Defence, Geoffrey Hoon, in London on
Wednesday.
LONDON, Feb 11 (Hina) - Great Britain will support Croatia's wish to
become a full member of NATO, Croatian Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul
said after talks with the British Secretary of State for Defence,
Geoffrey Hoon, in London on Wednesday.#L#
Zuzul arrived in London on Tuesday evening within a tour of European
capitals the purpose of which is to present Croatia's bid to enter the
European Union and NATO.
"We have been given firm assurances that Great Britain will support
Croatia on its road towards NATO, and the British Defence Secretary
has said he will welcome the day when Croatia becomes the Alliance's
full member," Zuzul said.
The Croatian and British officials discussed models of cooperation
between Zagreb and London.
"We talked about how Croatia's drawing closer to NATO can help the
region," the Croatian minister said adding that he was very satisfied
with the talks with Hoon.
"I reiterated that the Croatian government was determined to do its
homework, and we were given credit and commended for what we have done
so far, particularly with regard to the creation of a favourable
atmosphere for the return of refugees," Zuzul said.
Zuzul and Hoon discussed in general possibilities of Croatia's
engagement in peace missions, but, according to Zuzul, there were no
concrete questions about Croatian troops' deployment abroad.
Zuzul invited Hoon to visit Croatia, which the Briton accepted.
Zagreb and London maintain a good cooperation in the defence sector,
and at the beginning of this autumn, the first joint Croatian-British
military exercise will take place at a training range in Slunj (100
kilometres south of Zagreb), involving 160 British soldiers. Besides,
British military experts are expected to arrive soon in Croatia for
talks with their Croatian colleagues on the establishment of a
regional NATO training centre. To date, the alliance has set up nine
centres of this kind, and the idea on the establishment of such a
centre in Croatia appeared in mid-2003. The centre is likely to be set
up at Rakitje (outside Zagreb), where the Croatian army already has a
training centre.
On Wednesday afternoon, Zuzul will hold talks with the British
Minister of European Affairs, Dennis McShane, and Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw.
(Hina) ms