Criticizing his country’s government over its defense procurement practices, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said that Croatia received used aircraft from France, while Serbia was sold new ones.
In a statement on Friday, reported by index.hr, Milanović criticized the Croatian government for what he described as obstruction of the construction of Croatian patrol vessels.
He said the government boasts about allocating €15 million to Ukraine, but added that this amount would not even be enough to heat a single military barracks for one month. At the same time, according to him, the government has failed to allocate €12 million needed to complete the construction of five patrol ships.
“All I can say is that the project is being obstructed. Meanwhile, €15 million goes to Ukraine, €1.5 billion to France, €1 billion to Germany—some from the budget, some from European handouts,” Milanović said, referring to the purchase of French Rafale fighter jets and German Leopard tanks.
According to him, the French “sold Croatia used aircraft,” while Serbia was sold “new ones.”
This situation, Milanović argued, forces Croatia “to buy new equipment.”
“Is this an alliance? A partnership? This is not how it should be done,” he said.
Criticizing the purchase of German tanks, Milanović added that “Lithuania managed to secure domestic production of their components, while Croatia—despite having a long tradition—has failed to do so.”
