January 7 (SeeNews) - Croatia's government expects to meet an Israeli delegation this week to discuss a potential cancellation of the delivery of 12 US-made F-16 fighter jets - an offer which Croatia selected at an international tender, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic has said.
"Croatia had a professional team that analysed all offers, and then the Israeli bid was ranked as the best and most complete. Now, there are reserves articulated by the US," Plenkovic said on Sunday, according to a government press release.
Last week, Croatia's defence ministry requested Israel to state officially by January 11 whether it would be able to deliver the jets, as the misunderstandings between Israel and the US that Croatia from acquiring the jets it had chosen may force Zagreb to annul its March 29, 2018 decision to purchase the multi-purpose combat aircraft from Israel.
Israel's Defence Ministry Director-General Udi Adam is scheduled to visit Croatia on Wednesday and inform the Croatian Defence Ministry that the deal is canceled, as Israel is unable to complete the delivery following Washington's restrictions on the sale, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on its online edition on Sunday.
In early December, Israeli media reported that the US is blocking the $500 million (438.3 million euro) deal for the sale of 12 F-16 jets to Croatia. Washington believes that Israel acted unfairly as the F-16s are US-made and are not supposed to be sold to a third party without the US consent, Israeli TV broadcaster Channel 10 quoted officials as saying.
According to those officials, the Trump administration was angry that Israel had added advanced electronic systems to the F-16s in order to sweeten its offer for the sale of the jets to Croatia. The Israeli bid was selected at an international tender which also attracted bids from Greece, Sweden and the United States.
In March, NATO member Croatia agreed to acquire 12 F-16s from Israel to replace its ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG-21 fighter jets. Croatia would pay the price in 10 equal annual instalments, Plenkovic said back then.
($ = 0.873895 euro)