Bauk to consider convening the Defense Committee over transport aircraft

The Croatian President has stated that it is necessary to review Croatia's participation in the joint NATO procurement and use of Airbus transport aircraft because this type of aircraft does not fully meet the needs of the Croatian Army. The president has also said that the General Staff of the Armed Forces has already raised concerns about the aircraft. However, the Ministry of Defense has responded by accusing the president of misinforming the public when he claims that the Armed Forces are against the transport aircraft project and that they had objections in the process of preparing the Letter of Intent for Procurement.

The chair of the parliamentary Defense Committee, the SDP's Arsen Bauk, announced on Friday that in the coming days he will consider convening a closed session of his Committee, given the conflicting statements made by President Zoran Milanović and the Ministry of Defense regarding the procurement of transport aircraft.

"The need for transport aircraft was expressed by the President of the Republic during the Defense Council session last year, based on the opinion of the General Staff, and the representatives of the Government agreed with it," Bauk said, adding that he was aware of this because he was present at the session in question.

Bauk added that transport aircraft were included in the Long-Term Development Plan as one of the priorities: "At this point, if I understand correctly, it is a question of whether the declared type of aircraft being discussed is the one that suits our Armed Forces."

Given that on the one hand the President is saying that the General Staff of the Armed Forces has reservations regarding the transport aircraft, and on the other hand the Ministry of Defense is citing two letters that claim the contrary, Bauk, as the chair of the Defense Committee, has announced that he will consider the need to convene a closed session in the coming days to clarify this matter.

"Given that this is an early phase of this arrangement and there is enough time, opportunity and space to discuss these technical concerns, and the Defense Committee is a viable venue to discuss this issue, depending on the further development of the situation and if some things remain unclear, then I will insist that this topic be included in the Defense Committee session," Bauk said.

Source: HRT