Croatian Defence Minister Offers to Quit over Fires

While visiting fire-affected areas near the Croatian coastal city of Split on Tuesday, Croatian Defence Minister and Vice Prime Minister Damir Krsticevic offered his resignation over the military's allegedly slow reaction to the blazes on the coast, Jutarnji list newspaper reported.

His offer of resignation followed criticism by the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, who said during her official visit to Austria on Tuesday that "the military could have come out earlier" to help put out the forest wildfires that seriously endangered Split on Monday evening.

Grabar Kitarovic added that although troops are not specially trained to put out fires, the military could have assisted the firemen who have been fighting fires along the coast since the weekend.

However, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told an urgent press conference on Tuesday afternoon that he refused to accept the resignation, insisting that Krsticevic and the military had done nothing wrong.

Plenkovic added that he had talked with Krsticevic, telling him "to calm down".

Plenkovic said that wildfires are "interesting for the media" as it is uncommon for wildfires to spread to Split, but pointed out that only 16 people have been seen by doctors after inhaling smoke from the blazes, while one person died because of an existing heart condition.

He also said that it was "not clear" to him "according to which information" the president stated that the military's reaction came too late.

Before offering his resignation on Tuesday, Krsticevic had claimed that that the military reacted promptly when asked to step in.

He also insisted that the army acted according to procedure.

"We came among the first. You know what kind of system it is. The...