Defence Minister Mario Bano\u017ei\u0107 continues to systematically harass the Croatian Army leadership and a growing number of Croatian soldiers further denying them payments for the services provided in an orderly and legal way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even after the extraordinary inspection launched by the Minister has established that the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and the Chief of the General Staff did not violate the law by providing support to the Office of the President of the Republic, this same Minister once again accused Admiral Robert Hranj of violating the Defence Act since he provided support to the Office of the President of the Republic by sending soldiers to a wreath-laying ceremony on the occasion of the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the burial of Croatian defenders killed in Kusonje (5 February 2022) and to the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the establishment of the 2nd<\/sup> Artillery Battalion in \u0110akovo at the Memorial to the Croatian Defenders in \u0110akovo (5 February 2022). (Minister\u2019s letters attached)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of disclosing the Proceedings of the Defence Inspectorate \u2013 as requested a number of times by the President of the Republic \u2013confirming that the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces does not violate the law when providing support to the Office of the President of the Republic, the Defence Minister continues his dirty political actions he began as early as at the time he was Minister of State Property. It is finally clear why he does not wish to disclose the Proceedings of the Defence Inspectorate: this Minister\u2019s specialty in wheeling and dealing would reveal that he is now abusing Croatian laws at the expense of the Croatian army just as he as abused laws at the expense of state property in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his pathetic intent to give himself importance, which he does not have in the Constitution or under the law \u2013 and certainly not in his abilities \u2013 by sending some 200 aforementioned letters to the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister is attempting unsuccessfully to politicize and intimidate the military leadership. However, not in one letter does the Minister refer to, since he cannot, a specific legal provision since there is none that proves him right. The Defence Inspectorate has anyhow confirmed this, the Inspectorate he unsuccessfully instructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And how inconsistent he is in his own fabrications is evident in the following facts: after receiving the findings of the Defence Inspectorate, Bano\u017ei\u0107 stopped sending letters in January and stopped accusing the military leadership of illegally providing support to the Office of the President of the Republic. Seven commands of the Chief of the General Staff providing support to the Office of the President of the Republic that were issued after the findings of the Defence Inspectorate were not contentious to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, this week, the Minister, probably fearing that he was no longer useful to his boss, resumed sending letters to the General Staff. Counting on his boss\u2019s support, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi\u0107 \u2013 whose job is to protect incompetent and corrupt ministers on a daily basis \u2013 Bano\u017ei\u0107 once again imagined that he can intimidate the military leadership by sending harassing letters which prove that he does not understand the Defence Act, or that he is mindful of respecting the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That respect for the law is not an attribute of his is evident from the beginning of his political engagement: as soon as he seized management of state property, Bano\u017ei\u0107 arranged to get one of the largest apartments in the state portfolio, although he had no right to it. This wheeler and dealer did not stop at this, therefore from Minister of State Property he quickly turned into a dealer of state property which should be a matter for the State Attorney\u2019s Office, if he were not kept on Plenkovi\u0107\u2019s leash. Instead of securing payments for the use of state property, thanks to the Minister, the state has lost millions in unpaid rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only as such he could be promoted to Defence Minister, post from which he continued to lucratively interpret and make use of laws. Ignoring the task and the role of the Croatian Army, he lent the Croatian Navy\u2019s rocket launcher, used military planes as his personal taxi service and army mechanization for his personal promotion in his constituency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although it is hard to say what is the worst thing this incompetent Minister has done, by attacking the military leadership and the Croatian soldiers he crossed the line where he should be held accountable for his actions. After the Honorary and Protection Battalion, now the members of the Croatian Navy, the Support Command and the Military Police Regiment are also being deprived of their legally prescribed allowances. The Croatian soldiers carried out their tasks \u2013 providing support to the Office of the President of the Republic \u2013 which must be paid by law. In an entirely clear letter with arguments, the Chief of the General Staff explained everything to this illiterate Bano\u017ei\u0107 practically having to spell out that the tasks of the Military Police, for example, cannot be conditioned by any prior consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Reply of the Chief of the General Staff to the Minister\u2019s letters attached)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chief of the General Staff has done everything to clarify the laws to the Minister, calling on him to reimburse the Croatian soldiers of all outstanding allocations in the amount of HRK 33,000, which the Minister has illegally, typical of him, actually stole from them. Equally so he explained to him that the General Staff is not in violation of the Defence Act when issuing orders to the Armed Forces to provide support to the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces. Even the extraordinary inspection has found that there were no irregularities in the actions of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces. This was clear to every literate person, except to the Defence Minister, even earlier because the Defence Act is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Minister\u2019s letters to the Chief of the General Staff \u2013in which he persistently wants to force his way into the chain of command \u2013 after all can only be interpreted as political aggression against the constitutional order and the Croatian Army and not as being ignorant of the law and violating it. The Minister\u2019s attempt to restrict the constitutional powers of the President of the Republic as Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces, his belittling of the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and harassment of Croatian soldiers causes irreparable damage to the functioning of the chain of command and unrest in the Croatian Army, and threatens the normal functioning of the Croatian Armed Forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having an interest in the functioning of the Croatian Armed Forces and defending the Croatian Army from the Minister\u2019s incompetence and politicizing, the President of the Republic has warned the Prime Minister of the Minister\u2019s destructive actions on several occasions. Since the Prime Minister has turned a deaf ear to each argument and continues to protect not only his incompetent but his Minister even suspected of corruption, the entire responsibility for the apparent harm in the Croatian Army will be Andrej Plenkovi\u0107\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n \n