Some Facts about Minister Banožić’s Presence at/Absence from Briefings with the President of the Republic

As opposed to the Minister of Defense Marijan Banožić’s public statements – whereby the President of the Republic is telling “complete non-truths” – the Office of the President of the Republic is providing facts that can be easily confirmed about Minister Banožić’s presence at/absence from briefings with the President of the Republic at which he was invited along with the Chief of the General Staff Admiral Robert Hranj, who was always present.

The facts are as follows: the Minister of Defense was present only at briefings on 28 July and 8 September, and was absent on 27 August, 24 September, 9 and 23 October. Out of six invitations he accepted two, and for four of them he came up with various excuses and, like the last time, he sent his regrets 45 minutes prior to the scheduled briefing. Briefing schedules aren’t carved in stone, the minister’s other appointments were taken into consideration and there was always a possibility of rescheduling a briefing. The fact of the matter is that these are affairs of the state for which the minister is a relevant interlocutor. However, Minister Banožić mostly found more important work than to talk with the President of the Republic and the Chief of the General Staff. It is assumed that his predecessors also had the same duties, but Minister Damir Krstičević and State Secretary Tomislav Ivić, who at one time was Minister of Defense, managed to find the time to regularly attend briefings in the Office of the President, since, once again,  these concern affairs of the state.