Croatia slams NATO for its 'slow reaction' after Soviet-era drone crashes in Zagreb

Croatian officials criticised NATO on Saturday for what they said was its slow reaction to a military drone that apparently flew all the way from the Ukrainian war zone over several NATO member states.

The Soviet-era Tu-141 “Strizh” reconnaissance drone, flying at 1,300 metres, came from Hungary and crashed seven minutes after entering Croatia's air space, the government said. Both Hungary and Croatia are NATO members.

"According to what we know now it was obviously launched on Ukraine's territory", Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters on Saturday.

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"We don't know in whose possession it was," he said, adding that both Ukraine and Russia claimed it was not theirs.

Plenkovic, speaking at the site of the incident, said he had sent a letter to his European Union counterparts and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg over the incident.

"Whether it was accidental, a mistake or intentional, we do not know at this moment."

The incident "points to the need for closer cooperation within NATO", he said. He stressed the drone flew undisturbed over the alliance's three member states.

“We cannot tolerate this situation, nor should it have ever happened,” the prime minister said.

“This was a pure and clear threat and both NATO and the EU should have reacted,” he said. “We will work to raise the readiness not only of us but of others as well. ”

Defence Minister Mario Banozic said, "This was a very serious incident. We will have to investigate it thoroughly."

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary was closely cooperating with Croatia and other NATO allies.

"Our authorities are examining what happened, as according to present data, the air space of several NATO members including Hungary was affected by the drone's flight."

The drone crashed around 11:00 pm (2200 GMT) Thursday in a park close to the Jarun lake. Some six kilometres (four miles) from the city centre, the site is just next to a students residence with some 4,500 people and residential buildings.

Zagreb is located some 550 kilometres flying distance from the border with Ukraine, which Russia invaded on February 24.

(With inputs from agencies)