Minister Gordan Jandroković opened multimedia exhibition “NATO – A Safer Future”

Opening the exhibition, Minister Jandroković pointed out that the security guarantee of NATO membership will also contribute to the further strengthening of Croatia’s reputation as a stable and democratic country. He added that the Euro-Atlantic linkage is important not only military- and security-wise, but that it, along with a political affirmation, brings an economic stability as well as a possibility of economic growth for the member countries.

Minister Jandroković said that the possibility of Croatia’s becoming a full NATO member at the next summit early-April 2009 is further strengthened by partners’ assuredness that the ratification of the Accession Protocol in member counties will be carried out by February 2009.

NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Jean-François Bureau welcomed Croatia’s accession to NATO as a community of countries sharing the same values of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for freedoms. He addressed the importance of partners’ informing the public about all aspects of the Alliance’s activities. Speaking about the exhibition set up for the NATO summit in Bucharest, he thanked Croatia for organizing it and announced that the exhibition’s next destination is Albania’s capital Tirana.

Hungarian Ambassador to Croatia Peter Györkös welcomed the decision to invite Croatia into NATO, as well as the fact that Croatia is already taking part in NATO’s committees. Speaking about Croatia as an exporter of stability, he expressed a wish for and the possibility of the Hungarian Parliament being among the first to ratify the Protocol, as early as 15 September at that.

The exhibition was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in co-operation with the Brussels NATO Headquarters, and is part of the public dialogue activities aimed at informing the public about NATO. The interactive multimedia project contains video, photo, and written material about the Alliance, offering and overview of the operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, civil emergency planning, scientific co-operation, and the transformation of the Alliance, as well as an interactive quiz.

The exhibition is open 10-19 September 2008 and will feature daily lectures on NATO in English, French, and German. For more information, visit www.mvpei.hr/nato or the Glyptotheque of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Medvedgradska Street 2).