Croatia to take part in NATO’s political-military simulation exercise

CMX 08 is not a field exercise and does not include the deployment of actual military forces, but is being carried out as a simulation following a detailed scenario. Its aim is to check and practice NATO’s crisis management procedures on a strategic-political level, as well as co-operation and co-ordination of national systems and procedures.

The exercise takes place on two levels – in NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, where national representatives participate in the activities of the relevant committees and other NATO bodies, and in the capitals of the participating countries, which host a separate cycle of political consultations between and within the relevant state administration departments.

As a part of the fictional exercise scenario, NATO is examining the possibility of conducting crisis management operations outside of the Euro-Atlantic space. A multinational force’s participation in a peacekeeping mission, humanitarian crisis, terrorism, and one country’s threat to its neighbour are its main characteristics.

Apart from the 26 NATO members, taking part in the planning and implementation of CMX 08 are also the 12 Partnership for Peace countries. Croatia is taking part for the second time, and for the first time as a country invited to NATO membership. Also taking part for the first time are the two countries of the Mediterranean Dialogue, Israel and Morocco, as well as NATO’s liaison office at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Co-ordinating the implementation of the exercise in Croatia is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, with the participation of other relevant departments.