"An unmanned aerial vehicle entered Croatia at 22.57 hours on Thursday, coming from Hungary, and stayed seven minutes, travelling at a speed of 700 kilometres an hour," Banožić said.
He said "it is unlikely that this was a threat to Croatia," adding that NATO and the Croatian homeland security system were working on the case.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Admiral Robert Hranj, said that it was a serious incident and that an investigation was under way.
"Right now we cannot say who the drone belongs to. It is relatively old-fashioned and was used in the Soviet Union. Without a detailed analysis I cannot say whether it flew in from Ukraine," Hranj said.
The drone crashed in the Jarun area of southwest Zagreb shortly after 11 pm on Thursday. No one was hurt in the incident, but several parked vehicles were damaged.
We have information on where the drone came from
Speaking at a special press conference, Banožić said that the drone had been spotted by radar and monitored since its entry into Croatian air space. He noted that the radar was integrated into the NATO system.
The drone entered Croatia at 2257 hours, coming from Hungary, and stayed for seven minutes, moving at a speed of 700 kilometres an hour.
"Our radar crews are always on high alert, as is our air defence. We have air defence, it has certain limits, and that is our main priority," Banožić said, calling on citizens to remain calm and have trust in the military.
"This was not a threat to Croatia, there is no room for fear," the defence minister said, adding that he agreed with President Zoran Milanović's estimate that the incident was not directed against Croatia.
"We learned about the incident shortly after it occurred. What could we have done within a space of seven minutes? (...) Let's focus on what we've got. Right now the intelligence from Hungary and Romania is essential," Banožić said.
Banožić said that the situation in Ukraine had substantially changed countries' attitudes towards the defence budget. "I'm sure there's no country right now that isn't thinking about its national security. One of the possible courses of action is to strengthen the national defence system."
The Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Admiral Robert Hranj, said that this was a serious incident.
"I cannot tell you who informed us about the crash and how this process goes. The situation is being assessed and we are making decisions accordingly," Hranj told the press.
"I hope this won't happen again, this is a warning to us. We have to see where urgent improvements need to be made and be better next time," Hranj said.
Text: HINA