Polish-Croatian cooperation strengthens security in the region
10.01.2022
“Croatian soldiers serve along with Polish, American, Romanian and British soldiers, guarding the security of NATO's eastern flank. It shows our solidarity. This is an expression of our cooperation. But it is not only the format of the North Atlantic Alliance that is the format in which our troops cooperate. We also cooperate within the European Union. I am very pleased with the decision of the Croatian minister and government that, as a part of the European Union Battle Group in 2023, Croatia will participate in the duty together with soldiers of the Visegrad Group " - Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defence, said after a meeting with the head of the Croatian Ministry of Defence.
On Monday, January the 10th, the head of the Ministry of National Defence hosted in Warsaw Mario Banožić, the Croatian Minister of Defence.
The talks focused on the issues of bilateral cooperation of the armed forces of Poland and Croatia within NATO and the European Union, the security situation in our region and the Western Balkans, and the presentation of expectations for the New Strategic Concept of NATO and the EU Strategic Compass. The ministers also touched upon topics related to technical modernization and bilateral armaments cooperation.
“Regarding the security challenges of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance, we exchanged views on the most important challenges. Undoubtedly, the most important challenge for Poland is the hybrid attack that has been made on our borders, which are also the borders of the European Union and NATO. We also talked about bilateral cooperation. I would like to emphasize that the Polish Army is also active in missions in the Balkans. Certainly, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a challenge for the free world. Here Croatia has the best knowledge and the best experience in the context of how these conflicts should be resolved ” - said the minister.
Croatian soldiers serve in a battalion battle group located near Orzysz. Under the provisions of the Warsaw summit in July 2016, NATO deployed one of the four eFP (enhanced Forward Presence) battle groups in Poland. It was created by the United States of America with the participation of Romanian, British and Croatian troops. Coordination of the activities of all four eFP battle groups was entrusted to the Multinational Division North East established in Elbląg. The framework state of the division is Poland, and it includes soldiers from: Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Romania, Turkey, the United States of America, Hungary, Great Britain, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia.
The head of the Ministry of National Defence recalled that an important area of cooperation between the two countries are joint exercises of special forces and the exchange of cadets.
“Our bilateral cooperation is developing dynamically when it comes to joint exercises of special forces - Polish and Croatian. As regards the education, Polish military universities are open to Croatian students. The point is to build the interoperability of NATO troops, to cooperate with each other, because we are stronger together ” - he said.
>>> GALLERY - Minister Mariusz Błaszczak meets with Mario Banožić, the Croatian Minister of Defence
