State Secretary Pejčinović Burić met with Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas

State Secretary Pejčinović Burić thanked Minister Olekas for the support Lithuania, as a member of the EU and NATO, is offering Croatia in its process of acceding to the Euro-Atlantic integration, pointing out that for Croatia, acceding to NATO is an equally important foreign policy goal as the full EU membership. She confirmed the Croatian Government’s dedication to realising the EU and NATO membership, adding that Croatia is and will continue to conduct reforms with the aim of satisfying all of the membership criteria.

The Croatian side said it expects from the NATO Summit in Riga, which is not intended as an enlargement summit, a strong, clear, and encouraging signal about the future perspective for membership. The Croatian side informed Minister Olekas about the Communication Strategy for Croatia’s NATO membership, recently adopted by the Croatian Government. Both sides also showed interest for the exchange of experiences in informing the public. The Croatian side familiarised Minister Olekas with the co-operation among the countries in the region, especially within the US-Adriatic Charter (A3 Initiative) and NATO’s Partnership for Peace program.

Minister Olekas confirmed the continuation of the strong support for Croatia in the process of its acceding to the EU and NATO, adding that the membership will prove beneficiary for the country in numerous areas, such as security, economy, education, etc. Minister Olekas stated that NATO greatly values Croatia’s engagement within NATO’s activities, emphasizing its participation in and contribution to NATO’s peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.