Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Wednesday cleared Defence Minister Mario Banozic of responsibility for yesterday's crash of a Croatian Armed Forces MiG-21 aircraft, saying that the plane had experienced a technical failure for which the minister could not be responsible.

“Well, it’s not the first time this has happened… Whether it is a minister, you, me or someone else, the plane suffered a technical failure (which) is not the minister’s responsibility,” the prime minister told reporters in Podstrana after a meeting with Croatian county prefects and representatives of the Association of Cities and the Croatian Community of Municipalities.

He added that Croatia had enough aircraft to protect its skies and said that, following the government’s decision to purchase them starting next year, Croatia would have a squadron of French Rafales, fourth-generation multi-purpose fighter planes.

“Airplanes that have two engines. This is an important detail. So we took that into account when we chose which type of multi-purpose fighter planes to acquire for the Croatian Air Force,” Plenkovic said.

Then, he stressed, we will have a “completely different situation.”

“Then the Croatian Air Force will undergo a transformation that will significantly affect our defence capabilities,” he said.

He also said that there are no new details about the crash of the MIG-21 plane.

“Apart from what the Defence Ministry has announced, there is no news. We know that one pilot was released from the hospital, the other pilot had surgery, and the authorities will investigate. When they know something more, we will be able to tell you more,” Plenkovic said.