General Anton Tus, the first Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and highly decorated for his contribution to the 1991-95 war, has died in Zagreb. He was 92.

He was serving as the Commander of the Yugoslav Air Force and Air Defence in September 1991 when he joined the Croatian military and became Chief of the General Staff.

He strongly supported the development of the Croatian armed forces and the occupation of the Yugoslav army barracks in Croatia.

Tus served as chief military adviser to the President of the Republic (1992-1995), head of the Office for International Military Cooperation (1995-1996) and chief of the Croatian mission to NATO (2001-2005).

Tus joined the Tito-led National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in 1944 when he was 13.  After the Second World War, he completed the Yugoslav Air Force Academy in Mostar and the War Academy. He was the only pilot to fly all the types of aircraft of the Yugoslav Air Force.

Together with General Petar Stipetic, Tus was the only former Yugoslav People’s Army commander to be tried in Belgrade, in his absence, for high treason and desertion.

“We are all deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of General Anton Tus (…) whom we will forever remember as a great person and one of the founders of the Croatian Army,” Defence Minister Mario Banozic said in his message of condolence.