ZAGREB (Croatia), Feb 24 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Croatia's president on Monday has ordered the suspension of all cooperation between the Croatian Armed Forces (OSRH) and the Israeli army due to what he described as Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
In a statement on social media, Zoran Milanovic said that “because of the unacceptable conduct of the Israeli army and the unprecedented violation of all norms of international humanitarian law,” he had already in May last year “ordered the termination of all cooperation between the OSRH and the Israeli army,” covering all members of the Croatian military.
He added that at the same time, he had called on the Croatian government “to halt any form of trade in weapons and military equipment with Israel.”
Milanovic said that in a recent phone call, he directly warned Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic that “any form of military cooperation with Israel would be unacceptable.”
Referring to an official visit by Defence Minister Ivan Anusic to Israel on Monday, where he was expected to meet with representatives of Israeli defence industry companies and officials from the Directorate for International Defence Cooperation in the Israel Ministry of Defence, Milanovic stressed that as commander-in-chief of the OSRH, he reiterates that “the OSRH will not cooperate with the Israeli army in any way, now or in the future.”
He further underlined that in order to prevent “any harm to the Republic of Croatia", members of the OSRH “will not participate in any way in the implementation of any agreement, contract or arrangement with the Israeli army or the Israeli defence industry.” Such agreements, he said, “would therefore be unenforceable and harmful for Croatia.”
Milanovic called on the government, which is responsible for the procurement of military equipment and weapons, to “halt all planned agreements, contracts or arrangements that would include the purchase of weapons and military equipment from Israel.”
He added that the prime minister’s responsibility is to act in accordance with Croatia’s national interests, which he said include “cooperation with NATO allies” and strengthening the capacity of Croatian industry to participate, directly or indirectly, in the production of military equipment.
Anusic said on the social media platform X that during his visit to Tel Aviv, he met with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and discussed “strengthening bilateral cooperation at the level of the defence ministries” as well as closer ties between the Croatian and Israeli defence industries.
He said the talks focused on the exchange of experience and knowledge, particularly in advanced Israeli technologies, including the Trophy Active Protection System, which is integrated into the German Leopard 2A8 tanks being procured by Croatia.
He thanked Katz for granting the export licence for the Trophy system, saying it makes the Leopard 2A8 “one of the best tanks in the world.”
“There is great potential for cooperation with the Israeli industry, and the Ministry of Defence will continue to develop it for the benefit of our Armed Forces and Croatia’s security,” Anusic said.
-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
