The Defence Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday in protest at the cover of the latest issue of the Serb minority's political weekly Novosti, which featured a photo of two Croatian MiG planes that crashed during a recent military exercise and the caption "Both are down, both of them!"
The caption alludes to an exclamation by a Croatian soldier at the sight of two Yugoslav fighter jets downed over the coastal city of Sibenik during the war in 1991.
"Putting in the same context the Air Force that protects Croatia's sovereignty and the Yugoslav Air Force that was destroying Croatia during the Homeland War is an affront to all the personnel of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, to all Croatian veterans and all well-meaning citizens of the Republic of Croatia," the statement said.
The Defence Ministry dismissed as "completely untrue" the allegation by Novosti that the crash left "chaos and bombs".
"Unlike the chaos, the bombs and the missiles that were left by the Yugoslav Air Force throughout Croatia during the Homeland War, this accident was treated in accordance with all the existing Croatian rules and NATO regulations," the statement said.
The weekly's cover was also condemned by the Main Staff of the Armed Forces.
