ZAGREB, Sept 20 (Hina) - Croatian and Macedonian Defence Ministers Jozo Rados and Vlado Buckovski discussed the security situation in Macedonia and the Southeast of Europe and bilateral military cooperation, in Zagreb on Thursday. On
behalf of Croatia, Rados expressed regret about the recent insurgent attacks and loss of lives in Macedonia, and support to the territorial integrity of Macedonia. He hoped the present political processes in the country would lead to a stable peace and internal political relations. "We also spoke about bilateral cooperation which is based on an agreement signed last year during my visit to Skopje. The most important areas are the training and equipping of troops against terrorist attacks, and de-mining, with which Croatia has a lot of experience, and which, unfortunately, Macedonia is faced with.Furthermore, we discussed cooperation in equipping the two countries' armies and in
ZAGREB, Sept 20 (Hina) - Croatian and Macedonian Defence Ministers
Jozo Rados and Vlado Buckovski discussed the security situation in
Macedonia and the Southeast of Europe and bilateral military
cooperation, in Zagreb on Thursday.
On behalf of Croatia, Rados expressed regret about the recent
insurgent attacks and loss of lives in Macedonia, and support to the
territorial integrity of Macedonia. He hoped the present political
processes in the country would lead to a stable peace and internal
political relations.
"We also spoke about bilateral cooperation which is based on an
agreement signed last year during my visit to Skopje. The most
important areas are the training and equipping of troops against
terrorist attacks, and de-mining, with which Croatia has a lot of
experience, and which, unfortunately, Macedonia is faced with.
Furthermore, we discussed cooperation in equipping the two
countries' armies and in the military industry," Rados said after
the meeting.
"Croatian and some foreign media wrote recently that Croatia is one
of Macedonia's major weapons suppliers. This is a completely
legitimate business and is not even close to being of such large
proportions as depicted in the media. We did not stop our
cooperation in the field, but it is not topical at the moment. The
cooperation will develop in consultations with international
institutions, as it has so far," Rados stressed.
The Macedonian defence minister said the most important thing was
that an agreement on intensifying cooperation and forming expert
teams to work on several projects had been reached, including
regulations on international military presence on the territories
of the two countries, or the modernisation of the two armies in line
with NATO standards.
Asked whether the situation in the Middle East would affect the
security situation in Macedonia, Minister Buckovski replied in the
negative, stressing this was his personal opinion.
"I have received such assurances from the US envoy to Macedonia,
James Pardew. He said Macedonia remained one of the priorities of
America's foreign policy because its stability was tied to the
stability of the Balkans and Europe's Southeast," Buckovski
asserted.
The consequences of last week's terrorist attacks on the United
States "will be far-reaching and not one country will be able to
avoid them, but it is difficult to predict how the situation will
develop," the Croatian defence minister said.
"In the new situation, new initiatives could appear for a
comprehensive solution to the situation in the Southeast of Europe.
We agreed that we should firmly defend the view that a regional
approach which would cement the situation and negate individual
assessments was not acceptable either for Croatia or Macedonia,"
Rados stressed.
(hina) lml