Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Sunday attended Easter mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Zagreb, underlining afterwards the message of Christian solidarity and support to those who need it most given the crises and troubles in the world in recent years.

“I wish everyone a happy Easter. We heard a beautiful sermon by Cardinal Bozanic and important messages, first of all the message of Christian solidarity and support to those who need it most given the many crises and troubles the world has been facing in recent years,” Plenkovic told the press.

We heard the message to us, people in politics, to take account of those who have it hardest. We are trying, with all our measures and activities, to do that continuously, he said after the mass he attended with Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic and several ministers.

Commenting on French Ambassador Gaël Veyssière’s announcement that the Rafale fighter jets could arrive in Croatia earlier than planned, in the first half of next year, Plenkovic said that was as expected.

“Already when we were negotiating we knew it would be from the beginning of 2024. The pace is such that not all aircraft will arrive at once but in succession, so to me it’s totally as expected that some should arrive in the first half of 2024.”

Plenkovic said the preparations for taking over the jets were going well. “The pilots, technicians and mechanics are being trained, so everything will be as it should when the aircraft arrive. We had long and systematic preparations and made a strategic decision that had been coming for decades.”

The prime minister also commented on Swedish media reports that he is a potential candidate for NATO’s next secretary-general and on President Zoran Milanovic’s statement that it was important not to adjust the date of the next parliamentary election “to the prime minister’s needs and his ambition to get in a high international body.”

“It seems to me the Swedish media got mixed up. They meant Milanovic, given that he strongly supported Sweden about its NATO accession, has very clear pro-Western, transatlantic positions, and they can’t wait to see him at NATO headquarters,” Plenkovic said ironically.