Croatian President Ivo Josipovic arrived in Kabul on Friday for an official visit to Afghanistan during which he is expected to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai and senior NATO representatives as well as visit Croatian troops in the NATO-led peace mission ISAF.
osipovic is the first Croatian president to visit Afghanistan and the Croatian troops in the ISAF mission and the visit coincides with his first anniversary in office.
His talks will address the political situation in Afghanistan and how Croatia can help in the country's development. The primary purpose of the visit, however, is to meet the Croatian troops. Josipovic is accompanied by Croatian Defence Minister Davor Bozinovic and the Croatian military representative to NATO, Lt. Gen. Drago Lovric.
Croatia is participating in development projects in Afghanistan, independently and within the UN Development Programme - 23 projects in all totalling US$ 1.1 million. Some Croatian companies have already landed jobs in infrastructure and road construction there. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce opened an office in Kabul last July.
Croatia currently has 334 troops engaged in the ISAF mission, deployed as military police in Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Pol-e Khomri and Chagcharan, or engaged in protection, sanitation, the Mobile Liaison Observation Team, the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team, and Civil-Military Co-operation.
Between February 2003 and 2005, the Croatian Armed Forces sent up to 50 military police and officers to the ISAF mission twice a year. Last December, the Croatian parliament adopted a decision under which up to 350 Croatian troops will be deployed in the mission in 2011 and 2012. They are rotated every six months and currently the 16th Croatian contingent is deployed in that south-central Asian country.
