USA Doing Everything to See Croatia Enter NATO

U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Robert Bradtke, presented America’s new strategy focusing on Croatia and the region.

ZAGREB, CROATIA – The USA is doing and will be doing everything in its power to see Croatia become a full member of NATO at the NATO summit in early April, the U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Robert Bradtke, said.

At a business lunch at the American Chamber of Commerce in Zagreb, Bradtke gave a speech before some 150 people from Croatia’s political and business scenes about the subject “The Obama Administration – USA’s New Strategy” with a focus on Croatia and the region.

- The United States is doing and will do everything it can to ensure that all NATO members complete the process of ratification of the accession protocols so that Croatia can be a full member of NATO when the leaders of the Alliance meet at the 60th anniversary summit on April 3 – he said.

Washington wants cooperation in solving issues in the region, but also global issues 

- All of us, in NATO and the EU, need to recognise that if bilateral disagreements are allowed to block the path of the countries of South-eastern Europe towards Euro-Atlantic institutions, we risk seriously weakening the forces of reform and reconciliation in this region – the ambassador stressed.

The strong American-Croatian relations will also be boosted by the important experience and personal commitment towards this region which Vice-President Joe Biden and State Secretary Hillary Clinton have brought to Obama’s Administration, he continued.

Washington wants to cooperate with Zagreb also in solving open issues in the region, but also global problems, Bradtke said.

Obama will not visit Croatia yet 

The USA also wants to fortify economic ties with Croatia and it is working intensively on putting Croatia on the list of countries that do not need visas to visit the United States. In order to achieve this, Croatia must introduce biometric passports, he said.

In his speech, Ambassador Bradtke accentuated the priorities of the Obama Administration, primarily the economic recovery of America. Regarding foreign policy, the new American president cited four goals: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and climatic changes.

Answering reporters’ questions after his speech, Bradtke said that the ratification protocols for the entry of Croatia and Albania into NATO must be submitted before the beginning of the upcoming NATO summit. He also said that he did not believe President Barack Obama would visit Croatia after the summit, as had been announced by Croatian media.