Milanovic: Croatia Won’t Cooperate with Israel, because They Are Arming Serbia

Ivan Anusic (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Lana SLIVAR DOMINIC)

Commenting on reports that Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anusic was allegedly negotiating procurement of air defense systems from Israel, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on March 24 said that Croatian Army would not cooperate with Israel in any form.

Milanovic said that Anusic was negotiating with Israel while that country was arming Serbia, which the state leadership considered “a security challenge,” according to a release from his Press Office. 

“If the defense minister or anyone else wants to enter into this type of arrangement with Israel, for the procurement of the so-called David's Sling, it means that it also requires cooperation between the Croatian and Israeli Armies. That will not happen,” Milanovic told reporters in Zagreb. 

Some Croatian media outlets have recently reported that the so-called David’s Sling is one of the systems capable of neutralizing Chinese supersonic missiles which Serbia has procured, and that Anusic was negotiating for Croatia to acquire this system.

Speaking about Israel arming Serbia, Milanovic said that it had started a year ago when Belgrade procured a multi-barrel rocket launcher, designed for a 300-km range, from Israel, which, he said, “is even more offensive weapon than the system which the Chinese allegedly sold them.” 

“Cooperation with Israel requires trust, and I cannot trust anyone who arms my challenger. It is hard for me to understand why someone cannot see it, or pretends not to see it and why they are dragging us into that,” said Milanović, who, as the commander-in-chief, last year ordered that military cooperation with Israel be discontinued.