Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Croatia)

The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Načelnik Glavnog stožera Oružanih snaga Republike Hrvatske) is the principal head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Croatia, which is a joint body of the Armed Forces established within Ministry of Defence responsible for preparation, command and use of the Armed Forces. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the commander-in-chief, President of Croatia, to whom Chief of the General Staff is the principal military advisor. Chief of the General Staff is appointed for a period of four years and cannot be reappointed.

Chief of the General Staff
Načelnik Glavnog stožera Oružanih snaga Republike Hrvatske
Seal of the Chief of General Staff
Flag of the Chief of General Staff
Incumbent Colonel general Tihomir Kundid since 8 March 2024
Ministry of Defence
Member of	General Staff
Reports to	Minister of Defence
Appointer	President of Croatia
Formation	21 September 1991
First holder	General of the Army Anton Tus

As head of the General Staff, Chief of the General Staff has authority to fully command the Armed Forces on the basis of orders of the President of Croatia, decisions of the Minister of Defence and on the basis of provisions that law entitles him. Chief of the General staff is responsible to the President and to the Minister of Defence for the implementation of orders and shall simultaneously inform them of the acts that refer to the use of the Armed Forces.

One of the independent actions that Chief of the General Staff may undertake is to order a temporary standby of the part of the Armed Forces of Croatia in the event of the danger of disasters, major accidents and accidents, of which he shall immediately inform President of the Republic, as well as Minister of Defence. ^[1]

The incumbent Chief of the General Staff is Colonel general Tihomir Kundid, since 8 March 2024.^[2]

List of Chiefs of the General Staff

No.	Portrait	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.
1		Tus, AntonGeneral of the Army Anton Tus (1931–2023) [a]	21 September 1991	20 November 1992	1 year, 60 days	Croatian Air Force	Franjo Tuđman	–
2		Bobetko, JankoGeneral of the Army Janko Bobetko (1919–2003) [b]	20 November 1992	15 July 1995	2 years, 237 days	Croatian Army	Franjo Tuđman	–
3		Červenko, ZvonimirGeneral of the Army Zvonimir Červenko (1926–2001) [c]	15 July 1995	11 November 1996	1 year, 119 days	Croatian Army	Franjo Tuđman	–
4		Miljavac, PavaoGeneral Pavao Miljavac (1953–2022) [d]	11 November 1996	14 October 1998	1 year, 337 days	Croatian Army	Franjo Tuđman	–
5		Domazet-Lošo, DavorAdmiral Davor Domazet-Lošo (born 1948)	14 October 1998	10 March 2000	1 year, 148 days	Croatian Navy	Franjo Tuđman Stjepan Mesić	–
6		Stipetić, PetarGeneral of the Army Petar Stipetić (1937–2018)	10 March 2000	30 December 2002	2 years, 295 days	Croatian Army	Stjepan Mesić	–
7		Lucić, JosipGeneral Josip Lucić (born 1957)	30 December 2002	16 January 2008	5 years, 17 days	Croatian Army	Stjepan Mesić	–
–		Barić, SlavkoLieutenant general Slavko Barić [hr] (born 1957) Acting	16 January 2008	28 February 2008	43 days	Croatian Army	Stjepan Mesić	–
(7)		Lucić, JosipGeneral Josip Lucić (born 1957)	28 February 2008	1 March 2011	3 years, 1 day	Croatian Army	Stjepan Mesić Ivo Josipović	–
8		Lovrić, DragoGeneral Drago Lovrić (born 1961)	1 March 2011	1 March 2016	5 years	Croatian Army	Ivo Josipović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović	[3]
9		Šundov, MirkoGeneral Mirko Šundov (born 1962)	1 March 2016	1 March 2020	4 years	Croatian Army	Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Zoran Milanović	[4]
10		Hranj, RobertAdmiral Robert Hranj (born 1962)	1 March 2020	8 March 2024	4 years, 7 days	Croatian Navy	Zoran Milanović	[5][6]
11		Kundid, TihomirColonel general Tihomir Kundid (born 1969)	8 March 2024	Incumbent	1 year, 63 days	Croatian Army	Zoran Milanović	[2]

Notes

1. Previously served as the last commander of the Yugoslav Air Force from 1985 to 1991.
2. Served during the Operation Flash (1–3 May 1995).
3. Served during the Operation Storm (4–7 August 1995).
4. Afterwards served as the Minister of Defence from 1998 to 2000.