Government responds to Milanović: We do not purchase weapons from Israel

President Zoran Milanović called on the Government to stop the trade in weapons and military equipment with Israel. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense responded today. “We do not purchase weapons from Israel,” they said.

Plenković: There is no such cooperation with Israel

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković answered questions from journalists in Sinj and said that "there is no trade".

“There is no such trade. This is some kind of throwing out information that might have seemed interesting for some consultations. Cooperation related to the procurement of weapons is exclusively in the domain of the Government and the Ministry of Defense. As for his position, he did mention it at the Defense Council session. However, it referred exclusively to some kind of operational cooperation - for example, between the Croatian Army and Israeli forces. But there is no such cooperation at the moment,” said Plenković.

“The only thing on the table,” added Plenković - "is the European Commission's proposal to temporarily suspend part of the funds provided for in the EU-Israel agreement for the 'Horizon' project". Consultations are underway on this and the Prime Minister said that a decision will be made next week.

He described the situation in Gaza as "extremely bad and worrying" and the EU's message is to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid and a dignified life for everyone there.

Anušić: Almost no cooperation so far

The Ministry of Defense announced that it is currently not purchasing weapons for the Croatian Armed Forces directly from Israel. They also stressed that a possible decision to ban the purchase of weapons from Israel would not have an impact on them. Minister of Defense Ivan Anušić reacted today to the request of the President of the Republic of Croatia.

“Up to now, the Croatian Armed Forces have had almost no cooperation with the Israeli armed forces. So this statement by the President is also in this context. We see no reason to open up any special cooperation because we haven't had any so far,” said Defense Minister Ivan Anušić

MOD on Spike missiles and Orbiter aircraft

The Ministry of Defense announced last night that a possible decision to ban the purchase of weapons from Israel would not have an impact on the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, given that we are focused on European and American suppliers, and the aforementioned weapons and assets that we possess of Israeli origin are not of vital importance for defense and can be replaced with European components.

“The Ministry of Defense is currently not directly purchasing weapons for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia from Israel. The Spike anti-tank missiles, which are in the procurement process, are originally Israeli, but the Ministry of Defense is purchasing them from the German company Eurospike, which produces them under license,” the MOD statement said.

It is also added that the army possesses Orbiter drones, as well as a smaller number of remotely controlled armed stations on Patria APC’s, but that a possible decision to ban the purchase of weapons from Israel would not have an impact on the Armed Forces.

Milanović calls for an end to arms trade with Israel

We recall that President Zoran Milanović called on the Government to stop the trade in arms and military equipment with Israel, his office announced, adding that Milanović ordered the cessation of military cooperation with that country back in May.

“Given that the purchase and sale of arms and military equipment is the responsibility of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the President of the Republic calls on the Government of the Republic of Croatia to act equally and stop the trade in arms and military equipment with the current government of the State of Israel,” said spokesman Nikola Jelić yesterday.

Jelić added that Milanović, as President and Supreme Commander of the Croatian Army, "as part of his constitutional powers, ordered the cessation of all forms of military cooperation with the Israeli army back in May of this year." He added that "members of the Defense Council were also informed of this decision at the session held on May 23rd."

Source: HRT