Ante Kotromanovic

The Croatian defence ministry told BIRN that it is analysing options after the government the possibility of reintroducing compulsory military service, although the costs of bringing back conscription are not yet clear.

Croatian parties have put a number of veterans from independence war of the 1990s on their candidates' lists for the parliamentary elections due in November.

The Patriotic Coalition, led by strongest opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, is putting at least one war veteran on all its lists.

During a visit to a Croatian coastguard ship in the Italian port of Catania on Sunday, Milanovic said that Croatia is ready to help refugees coming to the EU, describing them as "people in pursuit of a better life".

"I think these people should be given the opportunity to work, to create, to pay taxes, to contribute, since for sure they won't and shouldn't go back," he said.

Croatian MEP Tonino Picula on Tuesday asked the European Commission to give Croatia funds and equipment to help it put out fires raging along the Croatian coast.

Besides seeking help from the EU's Solidarity fund, he urged Brussels to send fire-fighting equipment.

Croatia's new President, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, is at odds with the centre-left government over who commands the country's armed forces in peacetime.

Grabar Kitarovic last Friday maintained that she commanded the army in peacetime, adding that a planned military parade for August would not therefore be held.

Macedonia, Croatia intensify military co-operation

The two countries will conduct expert exchanges, and Croatia will have access to the pilot training centre in Skopje.

Macedonia Defence Minister Zoran Jolevski (left) and Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanovic met in Skopje earlier this month. [Miki Trajkovski/SETimes]

Alongside other EU and NATO member states, Croatia has entered the US-led international Coalition against the Islamic State, IS, in Iraq and Syria.

Croatian media learned the news from the US State Department on Monday, not from the Croatian government.

A Croatian military plane, a Russian-made MiG-21, has crashed on Tuesday afternoon in Donja Lomnica, near Velika Gorica in Croatia.

The plane was returning from celebrations marking Croatia’s 1995 victory over Serbian rebels in “Operation Storm” in Knin, Dalmatia, and fell just before reaching its base in the Velika Gorica area.