{"id":29669,"date":"2024-04-25T17:32:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/?post_type=news&p=29669"},"modified":"2024-04-26T12:34:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T10:34:30","slug":"president-milanovic-at-ceremony-to-welcome-rafale-fighter-jets-this-is-a-great-and-beautiful-day-for-croatia-which-has-acquired-a-modern-air-force","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-ceremony-to-welcome-rafale-fighter-jets-this-is-a-great-and-beautiful-day-for-croatia-which-has-acquired-a-modern-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"President Milanovi\u0107 at Ceremony to Welcome Rafale Fighter Jets: This is a great and beautiful day for Croatia, which has acquired a modern air force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 participated today in a ceremony to mark the inaugural delivery of Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to Croatia. The event, welcoming the first six out of the 12 Rafale jets acquired from France, took place at the \u201cPukovnik Marko \u017divkovi\u0107\u201d Barracks in Velika Gorica. This occasion comes two years and five months after the signing of a contract worth over one billion euros with France. The remaining six contracted aircraft are expected to arrive at the beginning of next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a great and beautiful day for Croatia. Croatia has acquired a modern air force, of almost the last generation of Western technology, the French Rafales. I congratulate and thank those who worked on that on a job well done. There are no issues or dilemmas. This will serve us well,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address at the ceremony, President Milanovi\u0107 highlighted the courageous Croatian defenders from \u010cepin who safeguarded our skies during the Homeland War, as well as all those who laid the groundwork for the Croatian Air Force. \u201cThose people were brave enough to make the decision to seize what is ours in difficult, impossible, incredibly risky conditions,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107, adding that those pilots \u201cwere the forerunners of these guys today, led by Colonel Peri\u0107, a Croatian pilot and commander from Rijeka, who brought this team here today, which landed these planes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Milanovi\u0107 mentioned the pilots Rudolf Pere\u0161in and Danijel Borovi\u0107 in his speech. \u201cCroatian pilots and brave men gave their all. One of them, Rudolf Pere\u0161in, died in combat operations for the liberation of Croatia in Operation Flash in 1995. We are indebted to them, just as we are indebted to Danijel Borovi\u0107, the Croatian colonel and recipient of the Order of Duke Domagoj, who was the first to bring a combat aircraft to Croatia, in February 1992, when he blindly flew from Biha\u0107 via Zadar to Pula, bringing us our first MiG. The indictment for war crimes against that man remains pending before a Belgrade court,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 pointed out, cautioning that it is our responsibility to address these issues and fulfil our obligation to those affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut that is history, which we cannot shy away from and forget. Today, we have modern technology. We have more than we can use. These planes are among the best in the world,\u201d said the Croatian President, who emphasized the importance of the other branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. \u201cThey are the Coast Guard, the vessels, which we have been waiting for to be delivered and launched for years. We need to finish that job because it should have been completed in 2018. We need that, without it we are not a maritime country. We also need ammunition, all of which we cannot obtain now due to the war in Ukraine and because of the bad and insecure situation in the world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, the President said that \u201cwe must look after our own interests the whole time,\u201d explaining that we need to \u201cmake sure to keep the armoured howitzers we acquired in 2012 operational and acquire more because that\u2019s how a country is defended.\u201d Close to a hundred Bradleys (fighting vehicles) are being upgraded at \u0110uro \u0110akovi\u0107. We secured that at the last moment and their importance is huge for Croatia. We will get them at an incomparably lower price than what we would pay if we were to buy something new. That was a good move, but the road leading to it was complicated. That Bradley will cost three times less than the average Patria, and is twice as valuable. Every soldier knows that. And every administrator and politician must know and ensure that,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concluding his address, the President congratulated all those who participated in the procurement of multi-purpose Rafale fighter jets, as well as \u201cthose who continue (the work), who take responsibility for these expensive, luxurious resources that not everyone has, especially not in the region. I call on them to be responsible, to protect our sky, their lives and their safety, their children and their families, to be bold, brave, prudent, and to choose the middle way in the face of two extremes. Thank you once again to the Croatian Army, to our heroes. Domovini vjerni!<\/em> [Faithful to the Homeland!]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2021, Croatia finalized the purchase of 12 Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets, following the Government\u2019s decision in May of that year to select France\u2019s bid as the most favourable. The technical agreement and three contracts were inked with Dassault Aviation, MBDA France, and Safran Electronic & Defense, totalling 1.15 billion euros. Financing for the acquisition will come from the Ministry of Defense\u2019s budget, with payments spread over six years, from 2021 to 2026. Under the terms of the contracts, Croatia is procuring 12 used Rafale F3-R jets from France, consisting of ten single-seaters and two two-seaters. Alongside the jets, Croatia will also receive a flight simulator to facilitate comprehensive training for Croatian Air Force pilots, as well as ground and test equipment, and spare parts. Expert projections suggest that the Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets will serve the Croatian Air Force for the next 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to President Milanovi\u0107, the ceremony at Pleso to mark the inaugural delivery of Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to Croatia was attended by numerous state officials and representatives from the Croatian Parliament and Government. Among the distinguished attendees were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ivan Anu\u0161i\u0107, Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid, Commander of the Croatian Air Force Major General Michael Kri\u017eanec, as well as civil and military dignitaries from both Croatia and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Marko Beljan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 participated today in a ceremony to mark the inaugural delivery of Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to Croatia. The event, welcoming the first six out of the 12 Rafale jets acquired from France, took place at the \u201cPukovnik Marko \u017divkovi\u0107\u201d Barracks in Velika Gorica. This occasion comes two years and five months after the signing of a contract worth over one billion euros with France. The remaining six contracted aircraft are expected to arrive at the beginning of next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29636,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-29669","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Milanovi\u0107 at Ceremony to Welcome Rafale Fighter Jets: This is a great and beautiful day for Croatia, which has acquired a modern air force - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-ceremony-to-welcome-rafale-fighter-jets-this-is-a-great-and-beautiful-day-for-croatia-which-has-acquired-a-modern-air-force\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Milanovi\u0107 at Ceremony to Welcome Rafale Fighter Jets: This is a great and beautiful day for Croatia, which has acquired a modern air force - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 participated today in a ceremony to mark the inaugural delivery of Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to Croatia. 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