President Milanović at Ceremony to Welcome Rafale Fighter Jets: This is a great and beautiful day for Croatia, which has acquired a modern air force

The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović participated today in a ceremony to mark the inaugural delivery of Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to Croatia. The event, welcoming the first six out of the 12 Rafale jets acquired from France, took place at the “Pukovnik Marko Živković” Barracks in Velika Gorica. This occasion comes two years and five months after the signing of a contract worth over one billion euros with France. The remaining six contracted aircraft are expected to arrive at the beginning of next year.

“This is a great and beautiful day for Croatia. Croatia has acquired a modern air force, of almost the last generation of Western technology, the French Rafales. I congratulate and thank those who worked on that on a job well done. There are no issues or dilemmas. This will serve us well,” said President Milanović.

In his address at the ceremony, President Milanović highlighted the courageous Croatian defenders from Čepin who safeguarded our skies during the Homeland War, as well as all those who laid the groundwork for the Croatian Air Force. “Those people were brave enough to make the decision to seize what is ours in difficult, impossible, incredibly risky conditions,” said President Milanović, adding that those pilots “were the forerunners of these guys today, led by Colonel Perić, a Croatian pilot and commander from Rijeka, who brought this team here today, which landed these planes.”

President Milanović mentioned the pilots Rudolf Perešin and Danijel Borović in his speech. “Croatian pilots and brave men gave their all. One of them, Rudolf Perešin, died in combat operations for the liberation of Croatia in Operation Flash in 1995. We are indebted to them, just as we are indebted to Danijel Borović, the Croatian colonel and recipient of the Order of Duke Domagoj, who was the first to bring a combat aircraft to Croatia, in February 1992, when he blindly flew from Bihać via Zadar to Pula, bringing us our first MiG. The indictment for war crimes against that man remains pending before a Belgrade court,” President Milanović pointed out, cautioning that it is our responsibility to address these issues and fulfil our obligation to those affected.

“But that is history, which we cannot shy away from and forget. Today, we have modern technology. We have more than we can use. These planes are among the best in the world,” said the Croatian President, who emphasized the importance of the other branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. “They are the Coast Guard, the vessels, which we have been waiting for to be delivered and launched for years. We need to finish that job because it should have been completed in 2018. We need that, without it we are not a maritime country. We also need ammunition, all of which we cannot obtain now due to the war in Ukraine and because of the bad and insecure situation in the world,” he added.

For this reason, the President said that “we must look after our own interests the whole time,” explaining that we need to “make sure to keep the armoured howitzers we acquired in 2012 operational and acquire more because that’s how a country is defended.” Close to a hundred Bradleys (fighting vehicles) are being upgraded at Đuro Đaković. We secured that at the last moment and their importance is huge for Croatia. We will get them at an incomparably lower price than what we would pay if we were to buy something new. That was a good move, but the road leading to it was complicated. That Bradley will cost three times less than the average Patria, and is twice as valuable. Every soldier knows that. And every administrator and politician must know and ensure that,” said President Milanović.

Concluding his address, the President congratulated all those who participated in the procurement of multi-purpose Rafale fighter jets, as well as “those who continue (the work), who take responsibility for these expensive, luxurious resources that not everyone has, especially not in the region. I call on them to be responsible, to protect our sky, their lives and their safety, their children and their families, to be bold, brave, prudent, and to choose the middle way in the face of two extremes. Thank you once again to the Croatian Army, to our heroes. Domovini vjerni! [Faithful to the Homeland!]”

In November 2021, Croatia finalized the purchase of 12 Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets, following the Government’s decision in May of that year to select France’s bid as the most favourable. The technical agreement and three contracts were inked with Dassault Aviation, MBDA France, and Safran Electronic & Defense, totalling 1.15 billion euros. Financing for the acquisition will come from the Ministry of Defense’s budget, with payments spread over six years, from 2021 to 2026. Under the terms of the contracts, Croatia is procuring 12 used Rafale F3-R jets from France, consisting of ten single-seaters and two two-seaters. Alongside the jets, Croatia will also receive a flight simulator to facilitate comprehensive training for Croatian Air Force pilots, as well as ground and test equipment, and spare parts. Expert projections suggest that the Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets will serve the Croatian Air Force for the next 30 years.

In addition to President Milanović, the ceremony at Pleso to mark the inaugural delivery of Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to Croatia was attended by numerous state officials and representatives from the Croatian Parliament and Government. Among the distinguished attendees were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ivan Anušić, Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid, Commander of the Croatian Air Force Major General Michael Križanec, as well as civil and military dignitaries from both Croatia and abroad.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan