ZAGREB, 13 March 2022 - A Croatian Defence Ministry delegation is travelling to Washington next week to ask for the temporary deployment of the Patriot air defence system in Croatia, Jutarnji List newspaper said on Sunday, citing an unofficial source.
Jutarnji List asked Defence Minister Mario Banožić on Thursday whether Croatia was discussing air defence assistance with its allies, and he said that the matter would be discussed in Washington next week. The source quoted by the newspaper on Sunday said that the Patriot surface-to-air missile system would also be on the agenda.
The US army recently installed this system in Poland as part of NATO's defence. These systems are stationed in Germany, from where the US army deploys them elsewhere in Europe.
The US army used the Patriot system last year for the Astral Knight exercise at Zemunik air base, inland from the central Croatian Adriatic city of Zadar.
As an affordable solution for the Croatian medium-range air defence system, many professionals recommend the purchase of the Norwegian NASAMS system, the newspaper said.
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