ZAGREB, Nov 13 (Hina) - Defence planning, especially as regards budgetary funds for the defence sector, is not possible to conduct without a strategic, planned approach on all state levels, Croatian Defence Minister Jozo Rados said on
Monday, opening a two-day seminar entitled "Transparency in Defence and Budget Planning." The seminar was organised by NATO with the aim of developing cooperation with Croatia and exchanging experience about transparency in defence planning, budgetary estimates, and regional security. "The goal of Croatian authorities is to define a national strategy with a document which would be binding, because without such a document... there can be no continuous progress but only interpretations, which may be influenced by the current political will," Rados said. Croatia is preparing to adopt basic documents - a project on Croatia in the 21st century, national strategy projects, and de
ZAGREB, Nov 13 (Hina) - Defence planning, especially as regards
budgetary funds for the defence sector, is not possible to conduct
without a strategic, planned approach on all state levels, Croatian
Defence Minister Jozo Rados said on Monday, opening a two-day
seminar entitled "Transparency in Defence and Budget Planning."
The seminar was organised by NATO with the aim of developing
cooperation with Croatia and exchanging experience about
transparency in defence planning, budgetary estimates, and
regional security.
"The goal of Croatian authorities is to define a national strategy
with a document which would be binding, because without such a
document... there can be no continuous progress but only
interpretations, which may be influenced by the current political
will," Rados said. Croatia is preparing to adopt basic documents - a
project on Croatia in the 21st century, national strategy projects,
and defence planning and strategy documents as soon as possible, he
said.
These documents should be the basis for the drawing up of other
important projects, which would be the foundation of the state
policy regardless of personnel changes in the state, Rados added.
A balanced ratio between security and transparency requests could
be a problem in the drawing up of the general strategies, he said.
British Ambassador Nicholas Jarrold said the policy of his country
was based on a strategic document from 1997, which was drawn up by
all major state factors.
Great Britain, which finances the Zagreb seminar, spends 23 million
pounds for defence annually. This huge amount must be justified
before the tax payers and parliament and this is where the need for
the transparency of important documents becomes obvious, Jarrold
said.
An assistant to the NATO Secretary-General for defence planning and
operations, Edgar Buckley, said Croatia was no longer part of the
problem but part of the solution in south-east Europe and NATO
therefore wanted to strengthen its relations with Croatia.
Croatia is already making progress and I hope that the Belgrade
authorities will follow its example, Buckley said, adding NATO's
presence in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina would continue until
peace was strengthened in those areas.
(hina) rml