ZAGREB, January 4, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in an interview with the national broadcaster (HTV) on Thursday evening that his cabinet would very probably scrap the plan for the purchase from Israel the F-16 fighter jets it chose because of the problems that have come up between Israel and the US.
The Defence Ministry has asked Israel to officially notify it by January 11 if it could deliver the fighter jets Croatia chose transparently in an international tender, saying that if Israel could not, Croatia would cancel its decision on the choice of multipurpose fighter jets.
The ministry reiterated in a press release that Israel had the obligation to obtain the US administration's approval for the delivery of the jets to Croatia in the appropriate configuration. "When the State of Israel officially notifies us regarding the matter, we will inform the Croatian public in a timely fashion," the defence ministry stated.
Plenković said that it was only recently that Croatia got information about Washington's objection to the delivery of the above-mentioned jets, and underscored that now Zagreb was waiting for Israel's answer.
It is almost certainly that Croatia will cancel the tender, if it cannot obtain what it has chosen during the bidding procedure, according to Plenković.
Plenković told the HTV that his cabinet's plan was to improve Croatia's credit rating to the investment level until the end of this new year. During 2018, the world's three leading rating agencies – Standard&Poor, Fitch and Moody's – revised upward their ratings or their outlook on Croatia.
S&P and Fitch now keep Croatia's rating one notch below the investment level, while Moody's keeps it two notches below the investment level.
Fitch has a positive outlook on Croatia, while Standard&Poor's and Moody's outlook on Croatia is stable.
More news on the purchase of F-16 planes can be found in our Politics section.
