ZAGREB, 21 June 2022 - The death of Croatian national Matej Periš was not due to violence or a crime but toxicology analyses have revealed the presence of toxic concentrations of amphetamine, ethyl alcohol and cocaine, Belgrade media quoted local prosecutors as saying on Tuesday.

The prosecutorial authorities said they issued the statement on the cause of death of the 27-year-old native of Split considering the circumstances of his disappearance in Belgrade in the night between 30 and 31 December 2021 until the discovery of his body in the Danube River in Belgrade on 18 May 2022.

The medical report was made by three forensic pathologists.

Periš went missing after leaving the Gotik night club in the Serbian capital in the night between 30 and 31 December 2021.

He had arrived in Belgrade with his friends for New Year's Eve and was last seen on footage from surveillance cameras, running in the streets of Belgrade.

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May 20, 2022 - The body of Matej Periš was taken to the Church of St. Anthony in Belgrade at around 2 pm on Friday, where a mass was held, followed by a farewell to his native Split, where he will be buried. ''It's over, I'm going home with my son'', said his father Nenad.

A large number of citizens from Belgrade gathered in front of the church to pay their respects to the man from Split who, under as yet undetermined circumstances, died in the Serbian capital, reports tportal.hr.

According to the preliminary results of the autopsy, Periš drowned in the Sava on a fateful night, and his body was found only on Wednesday, almost five months later, in the Danube near Ada Huja.

Nenad Periš, the father of Matej Periš, was the first to arrive at the church.The Holy Eucharistic Mass at today's farewell from Belgrade in the church of St. Anthony of Padua was led by the Archbishop of Belgrade Stanislav Hocevar, and in a farewell speech, he was joined by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) Patriarch Porphyry.

On behalf of the Diocese, a bouquet of 27 white roses was placed on the coffin, symbolizing the years of Matej Periš.

''All of us will, sooner or later, follow the path that Matej took from this world, but that path is not determined by us, this path is God's will'', said the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

"I thank Belgrade for its great heart, regardless of the fact that my son's life ended there. The heart given to me by the people of Belgrade in these 139 days helped me to feel the human care that I needed in these moments'', said Nenad Periš.

He also thanked the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia, emphasizing that he had ''human and professional contact'' with the police officers.

''I would like to say thank you to every cop. I would also like to thank the Croatian Ministry of the Interior, which has also done an amazing job. Thanks also to the BiH Ministry of the Interior. Thanks to all the journalists, and cameramen. I think you have shown that you are human and that in such difficult situations you know the difference between news and pain'', he continued.

''Thank you to every man in Belgrade, regardless of whether he is a believer or not. It has come to an end, I am going home with my son, and I am turning a new page that will be printed in Belgrade. After this, I think I will be a much better man. I think that God's call has a deeper meaning ', said Periš.

He pointed out that no public farewell from Matej would be organized in Split, and that the funeral would be held among family and friends.

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ZAGREB, 10 Jan 2022 - Croatian police representatives are en route to Belgrade to help in the search for Matej Periš of Split, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday.

"I asked the interior minister to send a team of Croatian police representatives to Belgrade. They are en route today," he told the press.

Periš, 27, went missing in the early hours of 31 December after coming out of a nightclub in Serbia's capital, where he came with a group of friends to spend New Year's Eve. He was last seen on surveillance camera footage running around the city.

Plenković thanked the Serbian police for their efforts to date and everyone participating in the search. He said, "it's key that Mr. Periš's family, as well as the entire Croatian public, get the full story" of what happened to the young man.

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ZAGREB, 6 Jan 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday commented on the procurement of Bradley US fighting vehicles, saying there had been dilemmas within the army's General Staff and the Defence Ministry, which was why he requested detailed reports from them.

Speaking to the press, Plenković said he had "initiated (a) detailed verification of what we can get, how much it costs, what the Croatian Army needs."

He said the procurement was a detailed process that began in 2017 and thereby Croatia was reinforcing its defence cooperation with the United States as well as its own army and contribution to NATO. Croatia is also strengthening its economy since part of the job will go to the Đuro Đaković company, he added.

Commenting on President Zoran Milanović's pressure to procure the Bradleys, the prime minister said, "Pressuring the government, which was the one to embark on this process, is a little ridiculous."

Plenković said he initiated a verification process over the past six weeks and that the General Staff and the Defence Ministry were consolidating their stand.

He said more consultations would be held. "We'll decide as we planned, but fully conscious that we have the key elements on the viability of that process."

Plenković said that as he understood it, the stand of the General Staff and the Defence Ministry was to procure the A2 ODS version of the Bradleys. This version is on the table, but together with the weaponry and everything which makes the vehicles good and useful, he added.

Commenting on today's record-high number of daily coronavirus cases in Croatia, Plenković said the fourth wave of the pandemic, dominated by the Delta variant, had merged with the wave in which Omicron is dominant. He said the number was as expected and reiterated that protection from the virus lay in vaccination and individual responsibility.

Asked if hospitality establishments would be required to close earlier, he said the national COVID-19 crisis management team had not yet considered that option.

Commenting on the opposition's collecting signatures for a vote of no confidence in Construction Minister Darko Horvat, Plenković said it would not pass. "We will reject this (initiative) too. The parliamentary majority is strong."

The prime minister also commented on the latest developments concerning Serbian tennis player Novak Đoković, who was denied entry to Australia, saying that everyone should comply with COVID regulations.

A journalist noted that Croatia changed the definition of close contact after Plenković met with Đoković after the 2020 Adria Tour in Zadar. After the tournament, Đoković tested positive for the virus.

Plenković said that story and the one regarding a religious procession on Hvar island, also from 2020, were "the stupidest and rudest theses in the media sphere when it comes to what is called, deliberately and in a politically orchestrated way, the inconsistency of the (COVID crisis management team)."

The prime minister also commented on the search for Matej Periš, a 27-year-old Croatian who went missing in Belgrade on 31 December, saying he was communicating with the relevant ministries on a daily basis and that they were communicating with the Serbian authorities.

"I have the impression we still don't have the whole picture," he said, adding that as prime minister he was interested in "getting the full story."

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