ZAGREB, January 11, 2019 - The United States Embassy in Zagreb said on Friday that during the entire process aimed at providing Croatia with F-16 fighter jets from Israel the United States was clear regarding the conditions necessary for Third Party Transfer (TPT).

The Croatia-Israeli deal has definitely fallen through after Israel officially informed Croatia that it could not obtain an approval of the United States for the delivery of the fighter jets.

After talks with our Israeli colleagues, "I can tell you that the State of Israel has officially informed the Defence Ministry that ... it cannot obtain the necessary approval from the United States for the delivery of the Israeli F-16 fighter jets to Croatia," Krstičević told the news conference on Thursday evening.

"The United States wholeheartedly supported Croatia’s acquisition of a NATO-compatible fourth generation aircraft from Israel, and worked to make this transfer a reality," according to a press release which the US Embassy in Croatia issued after given an exemption from Washington.

Due to the lapse in appropriations on December 21, the U.S. Embassy has been unable to publicly engage with any media. However, Washington has given the US Embassy in Croatia an exemption in order to issue the on-the-record response regarding the sale of Israeli F-16s to Croatia.

"As is common in these types of transfers, there are specific technical conditions that need to be in place to enable U.S. approval of the transfer. We were clear about those conditions throughout, and our December 27, 2018 approval of the transfer was consistent with that message." the US Embassy said.

"We remain committed to assisting the Republic of Croatia in its procurement of NATO-compatible combat aircraft," the embassy said.

Croatia was supposed to buy 12 Israeli F-16 C/D Barak fighter jets for an estimated 2.9 billion kuna payable over a ten year period. The US objected the sale of modified F-16 fighter jets to Croatia.

 More news on the relations between Croatia and the United States can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 11 (Hina) - Croatia's government stated on Thursday evening that it would cancel its decision on the purchase of F-16 jets for the national Air Force, after an Israeli delegation earlier in the day informed Zagreb that it had not managed to obtain the approval from the United States for the delivery of the upgraded used 12 planes to Croatia.

After a meeting on the matter which took place in the main offices of the Croatian defence ministry when the Israeli side officially notified Zagreb that it had not got the final approval from Washington, the delegation led by the Israeli defence ministry's director-general Udi Adam was received by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Government House.

The government says in a press release that the ministry's director-general Adam informed PM Plenković that Israel had not managed to obtain the approval from the US the sale of the F-16 jets concerned.

Pursuant to the notification, the government is going to annul the decision on the purchase of those fighter jets, however, it remains committed to the plan to modernise the Croatian Air Force.

Croatia should have be provided by Israel with the 12 used F-16 jets, and those were airplanes originally from the USA and enhanced in Israel. Washington, however, did not okay the Third Party Transfer (TPT) for the revamped planes.

At the start of this year, Zagreb set a deadline for Israel to inform it by 11 January if it would be able "to deliver the aircraft offered at the international tender and chosen by the Republic of Croatia in a transparent procedure," the Croatian ministry stated.

"The State of Israel is responsible for obtaining the approval from the United States for the supply of the aircraft configured as agreed by the Republic of Croatia. Upon receipt of the official stand from the State of Israel, the Ministry will inform the Croatian public without delay," reads the press release issued on 4 January.

"In the event that due to disagreement between the State of Israel and the United States the Republic of Croatia does not obtain the aircraft, the Government of the Republic of Croatia will annul the decision on the procurement of the chosen multirole fighter aircraft (dated 29 March 2018)." Croatia has managed the project in a systematic, professional and transparent way, acting in the national interest, the ministry underscored then.

Israel has officially informed the Croatian Defence Ministry that it cannot obtain the approval of the United States for the delivery of F-16 Barak jets to Croatia, Croatian Defence Minister Damir Krstičević told reporters on Thursday.

After talks with our Israeli colleagues "I can tell you that the State of Israel has officially informed the Defence Ministry that ... it cannot obtain the necessary approval from the United States for the delivery of the Israeli F-16 fighter jets to Croatia," Krstičević told the news conference.

"Given that fact, the ministry will propose to the government to act accordingly," Krstičević said, adding that the two countries had not signed an agreement and that there are no financial consequences for Zagreb.

Krstičević stressed that Croatia "had done everything right" and that it was not at all responsible for this "unexpected complication" which Zagreb had no say in whatsoever. "We have asked all the questions and we have received appropriate guarantees," the minister said adding that Croatia "led this complex process from the beginning to the end systematically and responsibly, taking into account exclusively Croatian national interests."

He underscored that that the Croatian Defence Ministry remained opened to cooperation and development of relations with the defence ministry of "our partner, the State of Israel" and that Croatia still had the political will to maintain the ability of military air force developed during the Homeland War. "I am confident that this government will know how to realise that," he concluded.

The Israeli delegation at the talks, that lasted several hours, was led by the defence ministry's director-general Udi Adam who said that during the entire process Croatia and Israel had an open and professional dialogue. He said Croatia showed professionalism and right judgment in each step of the way and that it was unable to influence the outcome which is why it could not be held responsible for it.

Unfortunately, the conditions were not ready and we were unable to secure the appropriate TPT (Third Party Transfer)and carry out the project due to due to unexpected circumstances that were out of our control.

The meeting was arranged after the deal was halted due to disagreement between Israel and the U.S.A following the US objection to the sale of modified F-16 fighter jets to Croatia. The Israeli-US dispute has to do with who owns the technology and intellectual property rights.

More news on the acquisition of the F-16 jets can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 10, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Wednesday that no non-paper exists warning of any problems concerning the procurement of Israeli F-16 fighter jets and that valuable time has been lost, adding that at the moment she doesn't see that anyone in Croatia is to blame for the problem in the procurement procedure.

"These days a lot of dust has been lifted. No non-paper exists to warn that there are problems with regard to Israel's or anyone else's bid. I and my office did not participate in the evaluation or reading of those bids but instead convened a meeting of the National Security Council where the expert commission presented all the offers and the best offer was selected, which was the Israeli one. A transcript of that meeting exists. If anyone has any doubts, I hereby approve declassification of the transcript to show that all the questions concerning any possible doubts were raised," the president said in the northwestern town of Čakovec.

"Together, with my colleagues, I raised all the relevant questions and proposed that, for the sake of transparency of the process, all the details of all four bids be made public and that citizens know what is involved. Considering that the countries involved requested that the details of the bids should not be made public, at least that's what I was told, they weren't made public. As such, this was the best bid," Grabar-Kitarović said.

She reiterated that she did not participate in the negotiations, except for general talks with her Israeli counterpart and with US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and his assistant.

She underscored that there were no indications of any problems and that everyone knew that it would be necessary to obtain approval for the transfer of the technology to a third party and that Israel undertook to do so while US officials assured that they wanted to confirm that there would not be any hidden costs for Croatia.

"I found out about the problems in November, but until then no one relevant had spoken about any problems regarding the transfer. Croatia cannot influence the disputes between the USA and Israel. I have been informed of everything by Minister Krstičević, who told me that an Israeli delegation is arriving on Thursday when Israel's decision will be known," she said.

The President emphasised that valuable time had been lost during the procurement process and that the Croatian Air Force was down to three MiG-21 jets. "The overhaul conducted in 2013 was an absolute failure. These are the reasons and questions we need to consider. Now, the most important thing is not only whether this deal will be concluded but also what we will do if it is not concluded. Obviously, we will have to launch a procurement procedure, depending on what we hear tomorrow. Croatia wants to keep its Air Force. We will have to launch a new procedure. There is no time. The MiGs are in a much worse state than they should have been. We'll have to be creative," Grabar-Kitarović said.

She added that at the moment she doesn't see that anyone in Croatia is to blame for these problems, adding that "we have to be realistic" and that "we cannot afford new, expensive jets."

"I trust that all this won't have any repercussions for our strategic relations and friendship with either of these countries," she said.

More news on the acquisition of F-16 fighter jets can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 9, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Zagreb on Wednesday that a meeting with representatives of the Israeli Defence Ministry on the delivery of Israeli F-16 fighter jets was scheduled for Thursday in Zagreb, and after the Israeli side notified Croatia about its position, the latter would decide on the matter.

"We will first see what officials of the Israeli Defence Ministry are going to tell us, and after that we can make pertinent decisions," Plenković told the press when asked about a probability for advertising a new tender for the procurement of fighter jets.

On 29 March 2018, the Croatian government unanimously adopted a decision on the procurement of 12 Israeli F-16 C/D Barak fighter jets that are supposed to cost Croatia 2.9 billion kuna over a ten-year period.

The Israeli bid included the delivery of 12 upgraded used Israeli F-16 fighter jets for about 420 million euros. The aircraft are between 25 and 30 years old and are supposed to replace the outdated MiG-21 aircraft used by the Croatian Air Force.

The Israeli bid also includes two flight simulators, training of pilots and maintenance staff, and weapons for the aircraft. The plan is to use these aircraft for up to 25 years.

The Israeli bid was one of the four. All the four bids for the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft, to replace the Croatian Air Force MiG 21 jets that have been in use since the 1991-1995 war, were opened at the Croatian Defence Ministry in Zagreb on 3 October 2017. The bids were presented by representatives of Greece, Israel, Sweden and the United States.

The aircraft to be purchased were various models of the F-16 jet, which have been offered by Greece, Israel and the USA and which are part of their air forces, and the JAS 39 Grippen fighter jet, manufactured by the Swedish concern SAAB. The Greeks and the Israelis offered used planes.

However, the process of the delivery of the Israeli planes was delayed due to disagreements between the U.S.A. and Israel over the matter.

On 7 December, the US Ambassador to Croatia, William R. Kohorst, commented on the problem regarding the sale of modified Israeli F-16 fighter jets to Croatia, saying that Israel has to accept the set technical requirements for the American side to agree to the sale of 12 fighter jets, adding that the debate has to do with who owns the rights to the technical and intellectual property.

Plenković reiterated today that as far as Croatia was concerned, the whole process was transparent and the Craotian side requested the checking of all information a few times. The decision on the choice of the Israeli offer was made on the basis of the information available then, Plenković underscored. Some of the information that has recently appeared was not known before, he added.

Plenković said that Croatia continued being firmly devoted to the maintenance of the capabilities of its Air Force. Everything else is a matter of technological offers and financial sustainability, he explained.

More news on the Croatian military can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 8, 2019 - The Defence Ministry on Monday reacted to media claims that a 'non-paper' exists warning Croatia about the USA not approving the sale of Israeli F-16 fighter jets to Croatia.

"The Defence Ministry files the documents it receives, and it has filed documents and correspondence with country bidders in the procurement procedure for multi-purpose fighter jets," the ministry said in a brief press release.

The Jutarnji List daily on Sunday claimed that the most senior state and military officials had "known at least a year ago about the USA's stance and conditions regarding the sale of Israeli's F-16 Barak fighter jets."

"Back in January 2018, the American side sent a non-paper to Croatia's senior officials in which it clearly noted all the obstacles to purchasing the Israeli jets. The news that the Croatian side, that is, the Office of the President, was informed of the problem was released on Friday by Velimir Bujanec on the Bujica current affairs programme. The American document arrived at the president's office in January last year, a source close to the president confirmed to Jutarnji List," the paper reported.

Ivana Crnić, a spokeswoman at President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's office, on Monday told Hina that the president never received any document that could lead to the conclusion that there was any problem in the procurement of the Israeli jets.

More news on the F-16 sale can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 7, 2019 - Israel will not be able to complete the F-16 sale which was signed with Croatia last March, following Washington's restrictions on the sale deal, Yent, the online edition of Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily, said on Sunday.

Israel's Defence Ministry Director-General Udi Adam is scheduled to visit Croatia on Wednesday and inform the Croatian Defence Ministry that the deal is cancelled, Ynet said.

Adam plans to apologise to Croatian authorities because Israel cannot complete the deal.

Israel and Croatia signed the 500 million dollar deal for 12 F-16 Barak aircraft, modified Israeli versions of US-made fighter jets. The US, however, approves the transfer to a third party only of aircraft without the Israeli upgrades. Croatia would not agree to that and gave Israel until January 11 to say if it can honour the deal as it was agreed.

More news on the attempted acquisition of the fighter jets can be found in our Politics section.

At midnight, the deadline given by the US State Department to Israel to formally send its reply to its demand to remove all non-American technology from planes supposed to be sold to the Croatian Air Force expired. According to Israeli sources, Israel will probably not even send its reply to the Americans, reports Večernji List on January 5, 2019.

Sources believe that the issue was largely closed after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brazil at the inauguration of the new President Javier Bolsonar and said that Israel was not prepared to remove from the F-16s Israeli equipment, de facto confirming that he could not deliver to Croatia the configuration it wanted.

Although no one expects any miracles that would change the US position, the government will formally wait for the deadline given to Israel, which is that by next Friday, January 11, it should inform Croatia whether it can deliver a combat squadron which won the Croatian tender for the purchase of multi-purpose combat aircraft in March 2018.

Croatia will not delay the formal annulment of the tender. This step is necessary so that it can be decided relatively quickly what to do next. The failure of a deal with Israel is not just a matter for Defence Minister Damir Krstičević, but for Croatia, which now has to find another way to save the Croatian Air Force.

Due to 15-year delays in the acquisition of a new squadron and the unsuccessful overhaul of the current MiGs 21s in Ukraine, the Croatian Air Force (HRZ) today has on average just three to four fully functional aircraft, which is a minimum. If the HRZ's capacity is further impaired, Croatia will have no other choice but to notify NATO's command of its inability to control its skies and request that the responsibility is taken over by the air force of one of the neighbouring member states.

The government will have to decide whether to announce a new tender or negotiate directly. It is estimated that the process of public competition would take a minimum of one year for a new decision to be reached. Realistically, the contract could not be signed before the end of 2020. Given that the US government supports the modernisation of the Croatian Air Force, it is expected that the USA could offer alternative solutions that would be relatively fast and would be affordable to Croatia.

More news on the Croatian military can be found in our Politics section.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Davor Ivanković, Sandra Veljković).

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.

ZAGREB, January 4, 2019 - Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said on Thursday it was Israel's responsibility to secure final permission from the US for Croatia to sign a contract on the purchase of F-16 Barak fighter jets, adding that neither he nor his team had done anything against Croatia's interests.

"Regarding responsibility, I think that neither I nor my team, with any action, have done something against Croatia's interests," Krstičević told reporters when asked if he still had Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's confidence.

Krstičević said he was willing to step down any time if his resignation would help Croatia in the purchase of the multipurpose fighter jets.

He said it was Israel's responsibility to secure final permission so Croatia could sign the contract. "How could I have known? They put in the papers and all the documents that it's their responsibility. Should I now be responsible for the action of a third party?" he said, adding that he was willing to resign.

Asked to comment on Plenković's statement that it was necessary to establish responsibility and examine details before adopting decisions, Krstičević said he agreed that, after this process was over, it was necessary to make analyses, see which lessons were learned and review all the circumstances.

"I believe that after this, the government, with me or someone else in it, will continue to look for a solution. Croatian pilots and Croatia's skies deserve multipurpose fighter jets. Sooner or later these planes, whether new or old, will be in Croatia. I believe this process has contributed to that."

Krstičević said that after receiving a more thorough statement from Israel, he would inform the public. He recalled that as the seller, Israel undertook the obligation to obtain the US administration's approval for the transfer of the fighter jets to Croatia. "That's solely Israel's obligation."

More news on the Croatian military can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 3, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday he expected final and clear responses from Israel and the United States on the delivery of multipurpose F-16 fighter jets, after which the government would decide on the fate of this tender.

"We expect final and clear responses from Israel and the US, after which we will decide accordingly. The government firmly stands by its decision that we can only conclude the offer as was accepted and proposed by the Defence Ministry team of experts. Everything else will require our decision to cancel this process, and after that we will decide on further steps," Plenković said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

He recalled that there were differences between Israel and the US regarding approval for the transfer of technologies to a third party, in this case Croatia. "Contrary to the information that we have had during this entire process over the last almost two years, certain problems have now arisen where the US has reservations about the transfer of technology which is originally American but has been upgraded with Israeli technology," Plenković said.

"In any case, we are not glad that this happened, but now we are trying to identify the causes of this problem, and after that we will make appropriate decisions," he concluded.

The Defence Ministry on Thursday asked Israel to officially notify it by January 11 if it could deliver the F-16 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."

If Croatia cannot buy the aircraft it chose because of disagreements that have come up between Israel and the US, the Croatian government will cancel the decision of 29 March 2018 on the choice of multipurpose F-16 fighter jets.

Croatia ran this very complex project systematically, professionally and transparently, guided only by national interests, the ministry said.

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković too confirmed that a new tender for the aircraft would be advertised in case Israel, due to US objections, was not able to deliver the F-16 Barak aircraft it offered Croatia.

"If the planes don't correspond to what we agreed, the deal won't be realised and a new tender will be advertised," he told reporters. "Either the planes will be those that were negotiated or there will be a new tender."

More news on the Croatian army can be found in our Politics section.