During a visit to a military range in the central town of Slunj yesterday, President Mesic was asked to say if the failure to inform him of a memorandum on cooperation with the US army had disrupted his relations with the defence minister. Mesic said that it had not "because the minister will do what the president requests him to do in line with the chain of command".
The Law on Defence precisely defines the powers of the parliament, the president of the state as the supreme commander of the armed forces, the government and the defence minister, Roncevic told reporters in Slunj at an event marking the fifth anniversary of a tactical-simulation centre of the Croatian Land Forces' Education and Training Command.
The minister stressed that he had never overstepped his powers nor intended to do it.
"I agree that there were some misunderstandings in the exchange of information and I am willing in my capacity as Defence Minister - and I hope this is something the President will accept - to remove some drawbacks which we established last Friday."
Asked whether he would schedule another meeting with Mesic and to comment on reports that Mesic was angry with him, Roncevic said that he still had not seen the reports due to his busy schedule, but that he was open to cooperation. Problems in the exchange of information will be solved and we will define relations at today's meeting as required by the Law on Defence, he said.
Asked to comment on media reports about the covering up of an investigation into the case of rape of some conscripts, which happened several years ago, the minister said he had ordered that the case be investigated by the military intelligence agency and the military police.
The minister commended the work of the Slunj centre, stating that it was organised completely in line with NATO standards.