Budapest, 12 November 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has named Zdravko Jakop as the country's new defence minister, after the previous office holder was seriously injured in a road accident that left one person dead.

Jakop is a former army general who graduated from the NATO military academy in Rome.

Former defence minister Mario Banozic was dismissed on Saturday after his car collided head-on with a delivery van on a country road in eastern Croatia.

The 40-year-old driver of the van died in the accident and the minister suffered serious injuries.

Prosecutors said that initial investigations indicated Banozic had caused the accident. He had overtaken a lorry with his car near the small town of Vinkovci, where he lives, and collided with the oncoming van. Visibility was poor due to fog.

Banozic is in intensive care at the hospital in Osijek, but is out of danger, hospital doctors told the media.

Photo: MIA archive