Steven N.
Croatia’s top leaders are unsurprisingly puzzled why Hungary did not inform them about a lost drone, presumably from Ukraine, that spent 40 minutes in Hungarian airspace and was headed their way. The drone finally crash-landed in Zagreb, fortunately only damaging a few cars, reported Jutarnji.hr.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković (pictured), Armed Forces Chief of Staff Robert Hranj, Croatian Minister of Defense Tom Medved, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, and Defense Minister Marija Banožić all visited the scene of Thursday night’s crash to see the crater left by the drone before holding a press conference.
We can say that we were very lucky with this serious accident. I spoke with European leaders yesterday and sent a letter stating that something like this could happen in another NATO-member city. We need to step up our cooperation so we can be aware of similar events. We do not know if this was accidental or intentional. The plane will be examined and we’ll see if there is any useful information in it or not.
-said Plenković.
Hungarians have to provide an answer as to how it could happen that for 40 minutes there was a drone in their airspace but nobody reacted to it. This drone could even have fallen on the Paks nuclear power plant.
-he said, adding that the Hungary’s own investigation must find out whose fault it was that no one told them about it in Croatia. At the moment, he didn’t wish to speculate on this.
We’ll find out how this happened. It was dangerous – this should not be allowed to happen.
-Plenković continued, but also said that it shouldn’t be ruled out that someone in NATO or Hungarian leadership would have to resign over this, as they themselves were certainly not at fault.
For now, it’s anyone’s guess how far the escaped drone flew, and at the moment it is not even entirely clear whether anyone in Hungary actually noticed it at all. [Azonnali]
