ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Romanian and Hungarian radars did not recognise the drone that crashed in Zagreb a week ago as there were other false alarms that occured around the same time, but all Croatian partners understood the seriousness of the situation.
Speaking at a cabinet session, Plenković said he visited NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre in Torrejón, Spain yesterday and once again clarified with them radar images from last Thursday night.
"Romanian and Hungarian radars did not recognise the vehicle as the right sort of alarm. That's very demanding given that there are a lot of such blips... It appeared, it didn't appear, and in those days there were other false alarms and fighter jets were raised over situations of a different nature."
"However, since the drone crashed in Croatia's capital, all partners understand the seriousness of the situation". Plenković said.
"There are three possible scenarios, a mistake was made, it was sabotage or it was intentional. That has to be determined so that all surveillance mechanisms are ready for such situations and so that attention is paid because of the war in Ukraine", he said.
"Not even NATO's system could have seen the drone without being informed by those whose radars were closest to it", he added.
The drone carried explosive device
"We will inform the public of all details so there is no confusion, false information, wrong comments and expert analyses without insight into what really happened because that's not good either for the public or those commenting on incomplete information."
The relevant authorities are still looking into all the details of the crash. It has been established that that it was a Tupolev Tu-141 Strizh reconnaissance drone whose range was over 1,000 km.
Given the traces found at the crash site, it has been established that the drone had an explosive device which exploded several metres below ground, Plenković said.
He went on to say that military exercises were taking place these days in Croatia with the French and US air forces, reiterating that this was a strong message to the Croatian public that the allies and partners were with Croatia in this situation.
He also said Croatia had taken in 7,200 Ukrainian refugees to date.
For more on this developing situation, check out our dedicated politics section.
