Croatian President and Armed Forces Supreme Commander, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, stressed the importance of civil society in initiating change as she spoke during a visit to Camp Marmal in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, on Saturday.

Kitarovic was visiting Croatian soldiers stationed in the camp who are about to complete their six-month stint in NATO’s Resolute Support mission in the country and spoke about about current political processes affecting the security situation.

More than 100 members of Croatia’s Armed Forces are advising Afghan military and police forces as part of the non-combat operation launched in 2015 which involves 16,000 troops from 39 countries that are either NATO member states or their partners.

The Croatian President expressed satisfaction with the cooperation between the Croatian contingent and German troops in Afghanistan. She told the soldiers that they are protecting Croatia from security threats as well with their activities on establishing peace, stability and security in the region.

During her visit, Grabar-Kitarovic met with the commander of Train, Advise and Assist Command-North (TAAC-N), German Army Brigadier General Gerhard Ernst-Peter Klaffus, as well as with the civilian representative of TAAC-N, Karsten Diethelm Geier. They informed the Croatian President of the security situation in their area of responsibility and the progress made in the development of capabilities of Afghan security forces.

Klaffus expressed satisfaction with the professional conduct and motivation of members of the Croatian contingent under his command.

Grabar-Kitarovic and Klaffus underlined the importance of the coming parliamentary elections for the stabilisation of the situation in Afghanistan and expressed satisfaction with the voter registration rate so far.

Parliamentary elections in the country are set for October. However, the Taliban, Sunni Islamic militants and mostly members of the Pashtun majority have said that they will not take part in them.

During a visit to Kabul on Friday, Grabar-Kitarovic said that she expected a political solution to be found for the Afghan conflict and that the Taliban would have to demonstrate more moderate positions during the process.

Croatia, a member of NATO since 2009, has participated in missions in Afghanistan since 2003.