ZAGREB, March 30 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Saturday received a United States Defense Ministry delegation headed by Minister William Perry.
ZAGREB, March 30 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on
Saturday received a United States Defense Ministry delegation
headed by Minister William Perry. #L#
At the beginning of talks, President Tudjman expressed his
satisfaction with the development of friendly partnership relations
between Croatia and the U.S., which had proved to be useful, not
only for the two countries, but also for the establishment of peace
and the new international arrangement in the region.
"After a successful cooperation in the military field, we are
hoping to extend it to non-military and economic spheres, Tudjman
said.
Perry thanked the President for the outstanding cooperation
and support that Croatia had given to IFOR in the implementation of
The Dayton peace accords, stressing that the deployment of the
troops would not have been possible without the logistic support of
the Croatian armed force.
Because of such a constructive role of Croatia in the overall
peace process, as well as the achievements of the Croatian armed
force at all levels, Perry expressed a strong intention to
personally advocate Croatia being admitted into the "Partnership
for Peace" program which presents an unavoidable stage towards
admittance to NATO.
The talks discussed an overall bilateral military cooperation
which began two years ago with the establishment of a bilateral
defense group, and which will be strengthened at all levels.
As regards the implementation of the peace accords on Bosnia-
Herzegovina, it has been agreed that the first three and a half
months of IFOR's presence in the area have been successful,
especially regarding the military aspect.
However, there was a difficult task ahead in the fields of
military and economy.
Tudjman and Perry expressed their conviction that, despite
imminent difficulties, they would be removed through a close
cooperation.
Perry stressed the importance of full freedom of movement in
all of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the strengthening of the Bosnian
Federation as a precondition for a successful implementation of
other aspects of the Dayton peace accords.
Tudjman reiterated that the Croatian state authorities do
everything to see the implementation of the peace agreements
successful and complete.
Besides President Tudjman, present at the talks were the
Croatian Defense Minister, Gojko Susak, the President's Chief-of-
Staff, Ivo Sanader, the Croatian Army Chief-of-Staff, General
Zvonimir Cervenko, the head of the Croatian Intelligence Service,
Miroslav Tudjman, the head of the President's Military Cabinet,
General Miljenko Crnjac, the Deputy Defense Minister, General
Kresimir Cosic, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ivan Simonovic, the
President's Aide, Kresimir Kaspar, and the head of the President's
Cabinet, Gordan Radin.
The U.S. delegation included: The U.S. Ambassador to Croatia,
Peter galbraith, Assistant to the Defense Minister, Robert Hall,
the Defense Minister's Secretary for public relations, Ken Bacon,
the Defense Minister's Assistant for international security issues,
Defense Minister's Assistant for military issues, General Paul
Kern,, the commander of the 28th infantry brigade of the U.S. Army,
General Joseph bPerugino, the director of the sector for southern
and central Europe with the U.S. state secretariat, James Swigert,
the White House worker for humanitarian issues in Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Julia Vindasius, the Ambassador's deputy, Robert Finn,
the U.S. Military Attaché with the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, Colonel
John Saddler and the Defense Minister's high Assistant for European
and Canadian issues, Rudy Perina.
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