State Secretary Božinović stressed that successful NATO membership includes constant reforms, which allowed the Republic of Croatia to make continuous contributions to activities of the Alliance both in relation to neighbouring countries and at the global level. He pointed out that both the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Albania, as new member countries, had the opportunity to participate in the process of creating NATO’s New Strategic Concept. State Secretary Božinović expressed his conviction that Croatia and Albania will continue to be credible and reliable advisors that will together continue to promote and defend the most important interests and values of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

In the rest of his speech, the State Secretary spoke about the security situation in the region and emphasised that the Republic of Croatia supported NATO’s “open door policy” and that he would invest all his efforts to keep this policy one of the priority objectives of the Alliance. He also emphasised that the Republic of Croatia would continue to support its neighbouring countries by using the experiences and knowledge acquired during the Euro-Atlantic accession process.

State Secretary Božinović also mentioned the US Adriatic Charter which, in his words, has become an important regional forum for the promotion of military reforms and a valuable contribution to overall efforts of South East European countries on their path towards Euro Atlantic structures. He reminded that the Republic of Croatia, as this year’s chair country, would invest additional political and technical efforts to allow those countries that are on the path towards NATO membership to carry out the necessary reforms.

In relation to tragic events in Russia, he especially pointed out that the Republic of Croatia strongly condemns the brutal terrorist attack, which is another radical reminder of the fact that today’s security threats don’t recognise any boundaries and require the investment of additional efforts that will reflect the nature of new security realities.

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