The Croatian Minister of Defence Mr Ante Kotromanović hosted the NCI Agency General Manager, Mr Koen Gijsbers, in Zagreb on 28 April 2014.
They discussed areas of multinational cooperation based on the successful example of the Balkan Regional Approach to Air Defence (BRAAD)."Croatia is a young Nation that joined NATO 5 years ago, and strengthening our cooperation with NCI Agency is essential for both Croatia and the Alliance. The active support provided by the NCI Agency is of critical importance in our effort to develop effective C4ISR capabilities for both Croatia and the region of Southeast Europe. Within the next 12 months, our objective is to extend the current Memorandum of Understanding between Croatia and the NCI Agency and further expand the scope of cooperation activities". Minister Ante KotromanovićDuring his visit, Mr Gijsbers further met with the Assistant Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Ms Vesna Batistić Kos', Chief of Defence, General Drago Lovrić and Head of CIS Sector Col Stanko Ćavar.The main theme of the visit was on capabilities and Mr Gijsbers emphasized the message of "Re-use what we have". It is more important than ever that we optimize capability development, maximizing the effect of Nations' investments. NATO Agencies can help to re-use the solutions developed for Afghanistan to assist in preparing National units for the NATO Response Force, quickly and at a lower cost. All were very supportive of continuing our current cooperation, in the context of Smart Defence and Connected Forces Initiative to enhance interoperability with NATO. Finally, the day concluded with meeting the Croatian Defense Industry on how to do business with NATO. Mr Gijsbers was accompanied by the Chief Strategic Partnership and Customer Relations Manager, Mr Eric Lievre. Pictures: MORH/J.Kopi