Minister Pusić on coalition against Islamic State

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusic 23 September in New York said Croatia would be a part of the coalition against the Islamic State, but that no formal decision had been made yet. “I think it will be reached at the next government’s session or the one after that. Formally, it is a decision that has to be reached by the government. What can be gleaned from the American sources, though not the State Department directly, is more of an expectation than a formal fact,” said the minister, adding that “so far none of the coalition states will participate with ground troops, but will assist in the fight against the Islamic State in other ways.” She said that the Islamic State represented a global threat and added that gatherings such as the UN General Assembly served to form coalitions and reach consensuses on defence against the most extreme global threats. “No single country can deal with that alone,” she concluded. Pusic is attending the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, where she will also participate in the General Discussion and a Security Council meeting chaired by Barack Obama on the threats posed by radical and terrorist groups.

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