DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

24
Exce pt “co mpa ni onship“ wi th the abo ve me nti oned gro -
up of sta tes, the Re pu blic of Cro atia wi th this me mbe -
rship ge ts a co mple te ly new po si ti on in inte rna ti onal
re la ti ons, ena bli ng it to achi eve na ti onal inte re sts thro -
ugh co-ope ra ti on insi de the Alli ance as we ll. For exa -
mple, bi la te ral co lla bo ra ti on wi th me mber sta tes is now
much si mpler for Cro atia, espe ci ally bi la te ral re la ti ons
wi th the USA and other big NA TO co untri es.
In the la st 20 ye ars NA TO has ou tgro wn the bo unda ri -
es of its me mber sta tes be ca use it has mo stly de alt wi th
the qu esti ons of glo bal se cu ri ty. NA TO got in this po si -
ti on tha nks to fa vo ra ble inte rna ti onal co ndi ti ons in which
it did not ha ve to de al wi th mi li ta ry-stra te gic affa irs only,
but co uld co mmit itse lf to new se cu ri ty pro ce sses in the
inte rna ti onal co mmu ni ty. In its stra te gic co nce pt of 1991,
NA TO co nclu ded that the new stra te gic si tu ati on was
appro pri ate for the de ve lo pme nt of di ffe re nt inte rna ti -
onal re la ti ons that wi ll be ba sed on a be tter unde rsta -
ndi ng be twe en na ti ons and sta tes, and mo re
co lla bo ra ti on on pe ace bu ildi ng and se cu ri ty. Such an
ori enta ti on re su lted in the de ve lo pme nt of a nu mber of
ini ti ati ves that we re ai med at stre ngthe ni ng de mo cra tic
re la ti ons in inte rna ti onal co mmu ni ca ti on. Two ini ti ati ves
can be hi ghli ghted as espe ci ally impo rta nt: the pro je ct
of expa n si on, that was re co rded in the Expa n si on Stu dy
in 1994, and the Pa rtne rship for Pe ace Pro je ct, which,
wi th its co nte nt and sco pe, ena bled a tra nsfo rma ti on of
ma ny se cu ri ty syste ms in po st-co mmu ni st wo rld. Bo th
pro je cts ena bled the Re pu blic of Cro atia to ta ke re fo rm
ste ps which pre pa red the who le se cu ri ty system for fu -
ncti oni ng in co ndi ti ons of de mo cra tic su rro undi ng.
Altho ugh the Re pu blic of Cro atia expre ssed its de si re for
ente ri ng Pa rtne rship for Pe ace in mid-1990s, that go al
was not acco mpli shed until the cha nge of go ve rnme nt
ea rly 2000. Su bse qu ently, on 25 May 2000, the Mi ni ster
of Fo re ign Affa irs of the Re pu blic of Cro atia, To ni no Pi -
cu la, si gned the “Fra me wo rk Do cu me nt of Pa rtne rship
for Pe ace“ at a me eti ng in Flo re nce, ma ki ng Cro atia an
offi ci al me mber of that NA TO pro gram and Eu ro-Atla -
ntic Pa rtne rship Co uncil (EA PC). The sa me ye ar, Cro atia
sta rted PA RP (Pla nni ng and Re vi ew Pro cess), after the
Go ve rnme nt of the Re pu blic of Cro atia se nt its answe rs
to the NA TO “Su rvey of Ove ra ll PfP Inte ro pe ra bi li ty”.
The ini ti al ste ps we re fo llo wed by de fi ni ng pa rtne rship
go als wi th the pu rpo se of the impro ve me nt of inte ro pe -
ra bi li ty be twe en the Armed Fo rces of the Re pu blic of
Cro atia and NA TO. NA TO offe red Cro atia 32 pa rtne -
rship go als, and the Re pu blic of Cro atia acce pted 28 in
to tal. In la ter ye ars, the nu mber of go als incre ased, until
it re ached 50 pa rtne rship go als in the la st ye ar be fo re
the acce ssi on. It sho uld be me nti oned that the ma jo ri ty
of go als re pe ated ye ar after ye ar, but the nu mber of acti -
vi ti es wi thin each go al was incre asi ng, and the Re pu blic
of Cro atia de fi ned its pri ori ti es of tra nsfo rma ti on and
ada pta ti on thro ugh Indi vi du al pa rtne rship pro gra ms each
ye ar. For exa mple, it sta rted in 2001 when it de te rmi ned
the are as in which it pla nned to impro ve its ca pa ci ti es:
the so ca lled C 3 system – co mma nd, co ntrol and co -
mmu ni ca ti on, the area of ci vil pro te cti on pla nni ng, de -
mo cra tic mo ni to ri ng of the Armed Fo rces, mi li ta ry
exe rci ses, de fe nse pla nni ng, bu dget ma ki ng and re so urce
ma na gi ng, de fe nse po li cy and Engli sh la ngu age stu di es.
Alre ady the fo llo wi ng ye ar, on 14 May 2001 at a su mmit
in Re ykja vik, NA TO invi ted the Re pu blic of Cro atia to jo -
in the new pro gram – the Me mbe rship Acti on Plan. That
invi ta ti on addi ti ona lly invi go ra ted Cro ati an acti vi ti es, as
was espe ci ally vi si ble in a nu mber of pro je cts re fe rri ng to
the cha nge of le gi sla ti ve and other infra stru ctu re of na ti -
onal se cu ri ty system. In spri ng 2002, the Cro ati an Pa rli -
ame nt acce pted a pa cka ge of la ws on the na ti onal
se cu ri ty area (De fe nse Law, Law on Se cu ri ty-Inte lli ge nce
Se rvi ces, Law on Pa rti ci pa ti on of the Armed Fo rces of
the Re pu blic of Cro atia, Po li ce, Ci vil Pro te cti on and Ci vil
Offi ce rs and Se rva nts in Pe ace Ope ra ti ons and Other Acti
vi ti es Abro ad), and two stra te gic do cu me nts: the Na ti -
onal Se cu ri ty Stra te gy and the De fe nse Stra te gy. The se
do cu me nts bro ught orga ni za ti onal and other cha nges in
the system of se cu ri ty se ctor ma na ge me nt, and the di re -
ct co nse qu ence of the cha nges was a stre ngthe ni ng of ci -
vil-mi li ta ry re la ti ons and the ci vil ma na gi ng of the system
as a who le. The fi rst cycle of the Me mbe rship Acti on
Plan sta rted in fa ll 2002, which me ant ente ri ng a new
pha se wi th a di ffe re nt and mo re obli ga to ry appro ach to
ada pta ti on to the enti re NA TO system of sta nda rds.
By ente ri ng the Me mbe rship Acti on Plan, the Re pu blic
of Cro atia be ca me an offi ci al ca ndi da te for me mbe rship
in NA TO. In that mo me nt the obli ga ti ons of ada pta ti on
expa nded from the Armed Fo rces to the ada pta ti on of
the co mple te system of na ti onal se cu ri ty and the sta te
for NA TO me mbe rship. Achi evi ng “insti tu ti onal ope ra -
bi li ty” is one of the ma jor be ne fi ts of jo ini ng NA TO, and
wi th that the tra nsfo rma ti on of the se cu ri ty pa rt of the
system be co mes co nne cted wi th pro ce sses of de mo cra -
tic co nso li da ti on, that is, de mo cra tic tra nsi ti on, which is
the only po ssi ble way for achi evi ng su ccess in impo rta nt
re fo rms of the se cu ri ty se ctor. 11 The Me mbe rship Acti -
on Plan ena bled the Re pu blic of Cro atia to re ce ive expe -
rt assi sta nce and the opi ni on of NA TO expe rts in all
impo rta nt are as. The Re pu blic of Cro atia co nce ntra ted
its acti vi ti es in fi ve are as: po li ti cal and eco no mic issu es,