President Ivo Josipovic and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor visited the Defence Ministry on Tuesday, and after the visit they confirmed to the press that Lieutenant General Drago Lovric was officially appointed the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

"The decision to appoint Lieutenant General Drago Lovric as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces has been signed," Josipovic said in response to questions from the press after a closed-door meeting with Defence Minister Davor Bozinovic and Lovric.

Josipovic described the meeting as successful, saying that it focused on defence issues and development plans.

He said that they agreed to convene soon a meeting of the National Defence Council to discuss amendment of a number of laws pertaining to defence.

Kosor said she and the president had excellent cooperation in areas in which they made joint decisions, such as foreign policy.

Answering a reporter's question, Josipovic said that the decision on the appointment of the deputy director of the military intelligence agency would be signed soon as well, but that this topic was not discussed at today's meeting.

Also discussed at the meeting was the report by the commission investigating last year's crash of two MiG-21 jets near Slunj.