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C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000419 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECDEF FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY ENGLAND FROM DATT 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2018 
TAGS: PREL KPAO MOPS MARR NATO HR DEFENSE REFORM
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DEPSEC ENGLAND DINNER WITH DEFMIN 
VUKELIC 
 
Classified By: COL Brendan McAloon, DATT, for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Sir, this is Minister Vukelic,s second trip to the 
U.S. since his appointment in January as Minister of Defense 
in the new Croatian government.  Though his tenure as 
Minister of Economy in the previous government was 
unremarkable, in his short time as Minister of Defense he has 
brought a level of political savvy and public awareness to 
the MOD that had been lacking before.  His knowledge of 
English is passive and he understands most of what is said to 
him but he is reluctant to speak. 
 
¶2. (SBU) ISAF: Croatia is an active partner in the NATO ISAF 
mission in Afghanistan.  Croatia currently has 204 soldiers 
on the ground and intends to expand its contingent to 
approximately 300 by the end of July.  Croatia has the only 
non-NATO Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) in 
ISAF for which it bears all the costs except the 
U.S.-provided stratlift. Croatia and the Minnesota National 
Guard are examining deploying a joint, Combat Arms OMLT in 
the future. 
 
¶3. (C) Peacekeeping: Croatia prides itself on its transition 
from a security consumer with UN Peacekeepers on its 
territory to a security provider with Croatian Armed Forces 
(CAF) elements involved in fifteen UN peacekeeping operations 
around the globe.  Minister Vukelic just returned from Syria 
where he witnessed the deployment of 98 CAF personnel to the 
UN mission in the Golan Heights.  Within the next few months 
Croatia will deploy 15 soldiers to the EU-led mission in 
Chad.  In the medium-term, Minister Vukelic has ordered a 
study to determine what needs to be done to make their MI-8 
and MI-171sh helicopters deployable to KFOR. With these 
deployments Croatia is in the process of implementing its 
plans to increase and sustain its PKO contributions from 
around 250 soldiers in 2007 to 600 soldiers by 2010. 
 
¶4. (C) ASPA: The U.S. FMF and IMET programs were suspended in 
July 2003 due to ASPA sanctions.  As a result, the CAF 
depended entirely upon national resources to accomplish their 
NATO partnership goals and to equip their forces for ISAF. 
Croatia is the only ISAF partner and new NATO invitee that 
accomplished its transformation and financed its ISAF 
commitments without FMF or Coalition Support Funding.  The 
suspension of IMET during this time has had a telling impact 
throughout the CAF.  Most notably is the lack of 
U.S.-educated staff officers at the senior and mid-grade 
officer level to fill critical billets on the MOD, CAF, and 
NATO Staffs.  We can also see the effect at lower levels as 
the CAF has difficulty finding adequately trained, 
English-speaking junior officers and NCOs for deployment and 
lacks combat medics and forward air controllers.  Croatia has 
been identified to receive one million dollars of Global 
Peace Operations Initiative funds, the bulk of which will be 
dedicated to improve the English language capability of the 
CAF. 
 
¶5. (SBU) FMF/IMET levels: Croatia is not programmed to 
receive any FMF in FY08, and is projected to receive only 1.8 
million dollars in FMF in 2009.  IMET is similarly under 
funded for a NATO invitee with only 300K in FY08 and 
projected 500K in FY09.  The proposed budget numbers trend 
better in FY10.  You can expect Minister Vukelic to discuss 
FMF and IMET funding levels during your dinner. 
 
¶6. (C) Procurement Priorities: U.S. FMF funding will be 
directed at obtaining the necessary NATO-compatible radio 
equipment, night vision equipment, weapon sights, combat 
medical equipment, and GPS required to sustain Croatia,s 
forces in ISAF.  Croatia currently has no Type 1 radios or 
Selective Availability Anti-Spoof Module (SAASM) global 
positioning systems in its inventory.  If possible we would 
like to direct FMF funds to the upgrades needed to deploy 
Croatian helicopters to KFOR. 
 
¶7. (C) F-16s: The MoD,s Long Term Development Plan calls for 
Croatia to replace its 12 soon-to-be obsolete MiG-21 aircraft 
with a similar number of advanced fighters for domestic air 
policing.  Croatia sent requests for information for Mirage, 
MiG-29, Eurofighter, Gripen, and F-16 (Block 15 used, Block 
15 mid-life upgrade, and Block 50/52 new).  Croatia now has 
all the answers it requested and is conducting further 
internal studies.  We have received messages that there may 
be some reevaluation of the need for fighters after NATO 
membership, but the official policy to procure fighters has 
 
not changed yet. 
Bradtke