Dear Secretary General,
Dear colleagues,
 
As we gather here today to discuss our current effort in Afghanistan and the path forward we should also reflect, at least briefly, where we were when we jointly started our endeavor.
 
We were facing a major challenge of eradicating a terrorist network while at the same time doing the nation-building. During these long years, as a community of nations willing to persist in our effort, we did not give up on our goal. The credit for this primarily goes to our men and women deployed thousands of miles away from their homes. We found a good partner in the Afghan Government and today we are able to say that we arrived hand in hand at the point where the institutions of the Government of Afghanistan will soon be ready to take a lead in this effort.
 
We arrived at the stage where we need to continue on our route but in a different role. We have to do our utmost to ensure that the path we are taking is secure enough, and to do that we must provide for our Afghan partners to feel well in their new capacity. Croatia joined ISAF in 2003 with a contingent of 50 and increased the size of our contingent to more than 300 troops.  More importantly, half of these men and women are dedicated to the training of the Afghan National Security Forces. With the goal to further build up the capabilities of the Afghan National Police we will accept the role of the leading nation in NATO Military Police School in Kabul. Croatian Government also took decision to further increase our presence in Afghanistan by 10%, thus reaching the number of 350. Parliament procedure will follow promptly. As we reach the edge of our capacity we continue to look for new options how to contribute, and one would be to pool our resources regionally.
 
 
The gradual transitioning of responsibility to the Afghan government - ultimately leading to full Afghan leadership - needs to be underpinned by a long-term international commitment. Croatia warmly welcomes partnership between NATO and Afghanistan, signed today, as the right step forward. Afghanistan is an important NATO partner and its security is closely linked to the security of our nations and populations.
 
Thank you.