Macron seals 1bn deal with Croatia for 12 French fighter jets
RFI
25 Nov 2021, 23:46 GMT+10
French President Emmanuel Macron and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday hailed a freshly signed strategic partnership that includes the 1 billion euro acquisition of 12 French-built Rafale fighter jets by Zagreb.
"It is a sovereign choice, the contract we signed ... it is a historic choice," said Macron. "It will be the cement of a strategic convergence between our two countries and lays the groundwork for the defence of Europe," he added.
Croatia joined Nato in 2009 and became a member of the European Union in 2013, less than 15 years after the end of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
In May, Plenkovic said Croatia would buy the fighter jets in order to modernise its air force.
"These are aircraft that will influence Croatian standing on the international scale and allow us to contribute in the framework of Nato and Croatian defence missions," Plenkovic said.
Mario Banožić, the Croatian defence minister and his French counterpart, Florence Parly, signed the aircraft contracts along with Eric Trappier, the boss of Dassault Aviation, which manufacturs the Rafale.
The first six Rafales will be delivered between autumn 2023 and early 2024. The remaining six will be sent by spring 2025.
Croatia is the third country this year after Greece and Egypt to sign a contract for Rafales.
Share
Tweet
Share
Flip
Email
Subscribe and Follow
Get a daily dose of Europe Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
News RELEASES
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Europe Sun.
More InformationWeapons pause by Trump signals shift away from foreign wars
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump is drawing praise from his core supporters after halting key arms shipments to Ukraine, a...
Moscow removes Taliban from banned list, grants official status
MOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
Netanyahu vows 'No Hamas' in postwar Gaza amid peace talks
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
US sends message by publicizing visa ban on UK punk-rap band
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has made public a visa decision that would usually be kept private. It did this to send...
Tragedy in Spain: Diogo Jota and his brother die in car accident
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
Early heatwave grips Europe, leaving 8 dead and nations on alert
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
Russia among 4 systemic risk countries for Italian banks
MILAN, Italy: Italian regulators have flagged four non-EU countries—including Russia—as carrying systemic financial risk for domestic...
US debt limit raised, but spending bill fuels fiscal concerns
NEW YORK CITY, New York: With just weeks to spare before a potential government default, U.S. lawmakers passed a sweeping tax and spending...
Shein hit with 40 million euro fine in France over deceptive discounts
PARIS, France: Fast-fashion giant Shein has been fined 40 million euros by France's antitrust authority over deceptive discount practices...
Meta hires SSI CEO Gross as AI race intensifies among tech giants
PALO ALTO/TEL AVIV: The battle for top AI talent has claimed another high-profile casualty—this time at Safe Superintelligence (SSI),...
Engine defect prompts Nissan to recall over 443,000 vehicles
FRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
Microsoft trims jobs to manage soaring AI infrastructure costs
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
