ZAGREB, 28 May 2021 - At the beginning of his cabinet's meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković sent a congratulatory message to the armed forces and the ground army on the occasion of Army Day and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian army.
"In the last three decades, the Croatian army with its origins among the people, gained huge experience during the Homeland War which it won, and it has developed into an efficient and modern armed force prepared to deal with all the tasks assigned to it," Plenković said.
After the the 1991-1995 war, the army underwent a successful process of the peacetime transformation, and only 11 years after the peaceful reintegration of its Danube egion, Croatia became a member of NATO, the strongest military alliance in the history, the premier underscored.
Croatia's soldiers are highly-esteemed participants in a lot of international missions and operations worldwide, including those run by NATO and those run by the United Nations. All that is conducive to the international security and peace, as preconditions for any development and prosperity, he added.
In the present-day more and more unstable world, Croatia must be able to efficiently safeguard its territory and borders, control its skies and sea and ensure its stability and energy independence, and, if necessary, protect its won freedom, he said.
In this context Plenković noted that his cabinet pursued the course that accomplished the priorities of the defence and security policies.
The government has adopted a new national security strategy and the legislation on homeland security and increased defence outlays and made investments in the miltiary equipment and modernisation, he noted.
At the end of his speech on the modernisation of the army, PM Plenković revealed the decision of his cabinet to purchase 12 used French multipurpose fighter jets Dassault Rafale F3R for €999 million.
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