I expect that funds for two Canadair planes will be ensured from the 2008 state budget, Sanader told reporters after a meeting with fire-fighting units' commanders at the Divulje base near Split. He added that it would be optimum for Croatia to have six Canadair water-carrying aircraft.
Present at the meeting also were Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic and Interior Minister Ivica Kirin, who called for the purchase of another three air tractors since Croatia has only one at the moment.
The Prime Minister said there was no need for declaring a state of emergency after recent blazes in southern Croatia.
Tourists were not disturbed, which proves that Croatia is a safe destination, and we were also able to help other countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia to fight wild-fires, Sanader said.
He said that the justice and interior ministers had been asked to propose stricter legal measures against arsonists.
Sanader said that this year the government had earmarked 550 million kuna for fire-fighting activities. Of this, 120 million kuna was spent on the purchase of fire-fighting vehicles, and 65 million were allocated to the defence ministry for the maintenance of Canadair aircraft and other equipment.
Defence Minister Roncevic said that this year Croatian Air Force planes had performed 5,764 flights as part of fire-fighting efforts and dropped 27,000 tonnes of water.
In addition, 560 Croatian Army personnel have been deployed along the Adriatic coast to help battle blazes.