The Croatian Air Force will be the strongest in the area between Germany and Greece with multi-purpose Rafale fighter jets purchased from France, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Paris on Friday.

Asked by a journalist, if the delivery of the Rafale fighter jets was going on according to plan, Plenkovic said that everything was going as planned, and the first aircraft should arrive in Croatia at the end of April.

This way, we are raising the capabilities of the Croatian Air Force to the level that in the area from Germany to Greece, there is practically no other country that will have a more powerful air force than Croatia, Plenkovic said, adding that this was the result of the strategic partnership between Croatia and France which they had established.

In Paris, Plenkovic attended the commemoration for the recently deceased Jacques Delors, who headed the European Commission for three terms (1985-1994), and during whose term the Schengen Area and Erasmus were created and the introduction of the euro currency was agreed upon.

After the commemoration, the leaders of the EU countries and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had an informal lunch where, among other things, they discussed the current global and security situation, the economic situation and preparations for the European Council meeting, Plenkovic said.