The Defence Ministry on Thursday strongly denied allegations by the Office of the President regarding the retirement of Colonel Elvis Burcul, saying that it was not true that Burcul had been driven off overnight and that the Office of the President was not familiar with defence-related legislation.

The retirement of Colonel Burcul, commander of the Honorary and Protection Battalion, which is in charge of President Zoran Milanovic’s security, has caused a conflict between Milanovic and Defence Minister Mario Banozic and has again disrupted relations between the president and the government.

The Office of the President on Wednesday published a statement about Burcul’s retirement, to which the Defence Ministry responded with a statement.

After earlier today the Office of the President said that Defence Minister Banozic “continues to state untruths to justify his decision on the early retirement” of Colonel Burcul, the Ministry responded with a statement strongly dismissing Milanović’s allegations.

The Office of the President said earlier today that “the minister is lying” when he claims that he received a day before it ended the proposal to extend Burcul’s term until the end of the year, adding that Banozic received the proposal in writing from the military Chief-Of-Staff, Admiral Robert Hranj, on 11 October.

The ministry said in its response that the document the Office of the President was referring to was dated 11 October but that on that day it was not received by the minister’s office but rather “the way Minister Banozic has said.”

It added that Admiral Hranj was informed of the minister’s position on his proposal, as communicated publicly by the minister.

The ministry noted that the Armed Forces Main Staff on 14 October 2021 made a decision on the termination of Colonel Burcul’s service as commander of the Honorary and Protection Battalion, effective as of 15 October, because of the expiry of his term.

As for the statement by the Office of the President that the minister was lying when saying that the law under which Burcul was retired was adopted during the term of the Zoran Milanovic government and that in fact the law was adopted in 1999, the ministry said that the law under which Burcul was retired was adopted during the term of the Zoran Milanovic government in 2013 and was amended in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

The ministry noted that Burcul was not sent into early retirement but was an officer with more than 40 years of service, entitled to full old-age pension.