ZAGREB, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian government dismissed on Thursday an interpellation submitted by the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) about its failure to procure fighter jets from Israel.
"We did everything we could and all that this government did in that respect was more determined and courageous in the modernization of the Croatian Air Force than any government did so far," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said during the government's session. "The transaction has not happened and we will draw a lesson from it," he said.
Sixteen members of the Croatian Parliament asked the government to explain why the purchase of Israeli fighter jets had failed, and demanded that Parliament discuss all the developments that preceded the cancelation by the Israeli side.
The prime minister stressed that Croatia could not influence, and is not responsible for, the Israeli decision.
Croatia is determined to modernize its air force, he said, stressing that extensive analyses will precede the procurement of aircraft.
In March 2018, Croatia decided to buy 12 used F-16 Barak fighter jets from Israel. However, Washington had insisted that Israel should uninstall all the upgrades added by the Israeli Air Force on the U.S.-made jets before selling them to a third country, which made the deal fall through in January.
