Croatian and German defence ministers meet in Berlin

ZAGREB, Aug 26 (Hina) – Croatian Defence Minister Mario Banozic and his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in Berlin on Wednesday confirmed the excellent relations between the two countries in defence, and they also talked about cooperation within NATO and the EU, the Croatian ministry said in a press release.

This was Banozic’s first bilateral meeting with Kramp-Karrenbauer and it was held on the fringes of a meeting of EU defence ministers.

The two ministers also confirmed the high degree of understanding in current security issues, the ministry said.

Banozic said his ministry’s priority was to continue to intensify cooperation with Germany in every field.

Croatia and Germany are cooperating within NATO missions in Afghanistan and Lithuania for example, jointly developing capabilities via the Framework Nations Concept, where Croatia is part of a German-led group, as well as raising the level of preparedness via the Readiness Initiative, where Croatia is part of a German brigade.

Bilateralni sastanak ministra obrane Banožića s ministricom obrane Savezne Republike Njemačke Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer na marginama sastanka ministara obrane Europske unije u Berlinu.@VladaRH pic.twitter.com/yDhzxUfkUw

— MORH/MoD Croatia (@MORH_OSRH) August 26, 2020

Banozic thanked the German minister for the support during Croatia’s EU presidency in the first half of this year, and wished Germany the best of luck in chairing the Union for the rest of the year which, like the Croatian presidency, is occurring during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic.