ZAGREB, January 9, 2019 – The Croatian consulate in Melbourne is among the diplomatic offices which have confirmed receiving a suspicious package on Wednesday, CNN said.
Joseph Petrić, Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia in Melbourne, told CNN that a package arrived at the consulate in the regular mail, and contained three little packets. Staff called the firemen and federal police, and the authorities came, packaged it and took it away. He said the office was not evacuated.
Croatia’s Foreign Ministry could not confirm that the Croatian consulate was one of them by phone because it replies only to written queries.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed that police and emergency services had responded to suspicious packages sent to embassies and consulates in both Canberra and Melbourne but did not provide details as to the specific locations or contents of the packages. “The packages are being examined by attending emergency services. The circumstances are being investigated,” said the AFP statement.
Australian media have reported that packages had been sent to a total of 14 diplomatic offices, including the British, American, Indian, Pakistani, French, South Korean, Greek, Swiss consulates in Melbourne.
According to the media, some of the packages contain asbestos, material used in construction which can cause health problems.
More news on the relations between Croatia and Australia can be found in our Politics section.
