Appearing in a special talk show on the HTV public television network dedicated to verdicts that were handed down earlier in the day by the Hague war crimes tribunal in the case of three Croatian generals, Kotromanovic said that French military experts had been of great assistance to the HV in establishing a training centre for non-commissioned officers at Sepurine.

He stressed that US Army officers had also provided great assistance in the preparation of Operation Storm, citing retired US Army General Carl Vuono.

Kotromanovic asked if that meant that the French and Americans were also part of the joint criminal enterprise and participated in the expulsion of Serbs from occupied areas of Croatia during Operation Storm.

Kotromanovic said that Operation Storm had been conducted properly from the military point of view and "without any hidden agenda".