President Milanović on Defence Council Meeting: conditions in Armed Forces unsatisfactory, it is necessary to invest in all branches
“Since we couldn’t agree on a joint press release on the Defence Council meeting, I have to make a public statement and talk about what happened. The raison d’être and function of the Council is to examine the most serious issues dealing with state security and defence, not necessarily in public, not to say everything, but focus on the essential. For days I have been warning about my reasons for convening a Defence Council meeting – because of a whole range of problems that cannot be concealed or masked by the decision on the procurement of multipurpose fighter jets. This is good, but the whole army and defence system cannot be hostages of this decision”, President Milanović said at the press conference in the Office of the President after the Defence Council meeting.
The problem is twofold, he explained and went on: “I have requested, sought and proposed that the joint press release concludes that the current material situation in the Croatian Armed Forces is unsatisfactory and that it is necessary to invest serious efforts towards a balanced development of all branches and segments of the Armed Forces. This wasn’t acceptable. To me this smoke screen intended for the public wasn’t acceptable so we didn’t agree on anything. At the second meeting, the National Security Council meeting, we did”.
Asked by the press if they discussed the Burčul case, he replied: “As for the Burčul case, they are pretending that nothing is going on. I won’t discuss this with anyone other than Plenković. The Minister had his say. He hasn’t been talking with the Chief of the General Staff for months. I told the Prime Minister that he has to deal with that, that it’s his responsibility,” President Milanović said.
The President further explained the problems in the army from his point of view by stating the example of equipping the Croatian Army. “All of last year the purchase of US armoured fighting vehicles has been announced, a very generous offer by the Americans that’s still on the table for a short while. The decision was politically important for me because of the cooperation with the Americans, but it has simply vanished from the budget for this and the next three years. It isn’t there and no announcement to this effect was made. This would simply be the next step to bringing the Croatian Army, the ground forces, to a decent level, nothing more than that”, President Milanović said, adding that he “cannot let things slide as though they are not happening”.
“We need action within possible limits. I don’t want the Croatian soldiers to be clay pigeons, regardless of a threat that is not current, but people to whom we have given the maximum, and not the minimum. The delivery of fighters jets to Croatia basically changes nothing if everything else won’t follow the system. Croatia can afford it”, he said. “This totally ignorant approach to the equipping and strategic plans of the Croatian Army is unacceptable”.
Regarding the Defence Minister’s move in retiring colonel Burčul, the President said: “When I start using my powers, like the Minister has done without explanation thus humiliating and destroying an exemplary officer, it won’t be good. I can retire anyone. Is that the way to go? No. I won’t, it’s a matter of a soldier’s honour that some people can’t understand. The fact that the current material situation of the Armed Forces isn’t satisfactory and that it’s necessary to invest additional efforts towards a balanced development of all branches and segments of the Armed Forces – is too much for some people. We weren’t able to agree on this. It’s regrettable.” He repeated once again that he “expects the Prime Minister to be accountable and to assume responsibility, not Banožić”.
Asked about the Defence Minister’s decision forbidding the use of military resources without his authorization, President Milanović said: “The question is whether the Government and the Minister will obstruct the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief in the work that was entrusted to him by the Croatian political nation or will they be correct? That’s the question. It is an attack against the Constitutional role of the President of the Republic. That is a message that they will obstruct, let them obstruct, Plenković will be held accountable. The President is Commander in Chief and the army supports him. The President does not meddle in the decisions made by the Minister, you will hear and see something about this in the coming days. It’s not about the apartment, that’s petty theft. It’s about decisions where state resources of the Croatian Army and Navy have been employed for personal use and not paid for. Wait and see. There are countless examples. That’s punishable just like the criminal decision on the retirement of the Commander of the Honorary and Protection Battalion.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta, Marko Beljan