Cablegate: Croatia Hosts Seminar On Multinational Units

VZCZCXRO2773
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHVB #1109 2570736
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140736Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6648
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001109

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO HR DEFENSE REFORM
SUBJECT: CROATIA HOSTS SEMINAR ON MULTINATIONAL UNITS
IN PEACE OPERATIONS.

1. (U) Fourteen NATO and Partnership for Peace member
nations are attending a 12-15 September seminar on
multinational police units in international
peacekeeping operations. The Croatian Armed Forces'
Military Police Department is hosting the event, held
in the coastal city of Split, to expand the knowledge
and skills needed in peacekeeping operations and to
share the lessons learned by the Croatian military
police in the UN peace mission in Afghanistan.
Representatives from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Hungary, Serbia, the
Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the United States and
Croatia will discuss multinational military police
projects, standard operational procedures of the
military police, preparations for tasks and missions,
and the application of international law and its
implications in international peace operations.

2. (SBU) COMMENT: The Croatia military is justifiably
proud of its military police units' performance to date
in Afghanistan. Military policing may in fact be
Croatia's best choice as it seeks to develop a NATO
"niche" capability. Noting that several hundred
Croatian soldiers have now cycled through ISAF
deployments, MFA Assistant Minister Pjer Simunovic told
poloff Sept. 12 the seminar presents yet another
opportunity for Croatia to demonstrate its commitment
to the Alliance. He also pointed out that the presence
of Serbian military personnel at the seminar,
unthinkable just a few years ago, shows how far
regional cooperation has come. END COMMENT
BRADTKE

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