"I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Defence Minister Damir Krsticevic and Croatia for this sign of close ties and cooperation," Minister Pinotti was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA as saying on Tuesday.
The Italian minister perceives the humanitarian deployment of Croatian troops and aircraft as a tangible sign of bilateral cooperation.
This past Saturday, the Croatian government approved the deployment of 14 members of the Croatian Armed Forces and two Air Force firefighting planes in Italy to help extinguish wildfires.
The decision on the humanitarian deployment of Croatian troops and aircraft was made with the previous consent of the president of the republic, who is also the army's supreme commander.
The Italian minister welcomes the deployment as the expression of will to reinforce the excellent bilateral relations in both operative segment and in military and political dialogue.
ANSA recalls that on 19 July, Minister Pinotti visited Croatia for the talks with her Croatian counterpart Damir Krsticevic on their their common positions on the defence and security policies pursued by the EU and NATO.