CROATIA SUPPORTS USG'S APPROACH ON AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000111 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/A TOM REOTT AND EUR/RPM AARON COPE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2019 TAGS: NATO PREL PGOV MOPS MARR AF HR SUBJECT: CROATIA SUPPORTS USG'S APPROACH ON AFGHANISTAN REF: A. STATE 14097 ¶B. STATE 15959 ¶C. STATE 15623 Classified By: Poloff Peter D'Amico for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered points from reftels on 26 February to Andrej Dogan, Head of the Department for International Security at the MFA. Dogan expressed gratitude for the comprehensive overview on Afghanistan and said that he was encouraged by what he heard. The GoC agreed with the U.S. Administration's direction on Afghanistan policy and appreciated that the USG wanted to hear from smaller countries on our shared efforts in Afghanistan. ¶2. (C) Dogan emphasized that there would be a continuation of Croatia's commitment to Afghanistan. For example, with the planned addition of two more OMLTs this year, Croatia's contribution to ISAF would increase from the approximately 270 troops already in Afghanistan to almost 300. Dogan also agreed that our goals in Afghanistan could not be achieved through military means alone, and added that the GoC recognized the importance of making the upcoming August 20 Presidential elections a success. ¶3. (C) Dogan suggested that with so many different allied and international operations on the ground in Afghanistan, there was room for improvement coordinating between the diverse efforts. Dogan acknowledged that it was challenging given the number of different actors, but suggested that the USG's emphasis on consulting with allies and friends would be the best way to improve coordination on the ground. BRADTKE