by Admin
Oct 5, 2024
Things got more complicated than before between the President of Croatia and his Prime Minister when the president, who is also the Chief Commanding Officer of the Croatian military, withdrew from sending troops to Germany to help train the Ukrainian army .
Croatia, which is a member of NATO, becomes the second NATO member to withdraw its military support from Ukraine, joining Hungary from other 32 members of NATO taking part in military operations against Russia.
Croatia soldiers are supposed to join other NATO soldiers in Germany to work as instructors for Ukrainian soldiers as part of the alliance’s Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, NSATU, project.
Whereas, President Zoran Milanovic, opted out of such operations stating that he doesn’t want his country drawn into a longtime conflict with Russia.
The president took to his Facebook page to explain his decision, he said “Simply, while I am the President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief – Croatian soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers will not participate in activities that push Croatia into war,”.
He explained that he will not also participate in supporting such operations for a non NATO country that Ukraine is currently not part of NATO membership.
Milanovic further noted that “Everything else is joining the war, which I did not and will not allow. I answer exclusively to the Croatian people, not to Washington and Brussels – it will remain so,”.
Andrej Plenkovic, the Prime Minister of Croatia did not welcome the president’s decision and he said “Milanovic participated in the NATO summit and in no way indicated to the allies that he was against it. The level of deception and lies he spreads is unprecedented,”.
He further highlighted that “We call on members of Parliament not to agree to follow a policy that is contrary to Croatian interests, to act as if we do not see Russian aggression against Ukraine,”.
Plenkovic urged the Croatian parliament to consider supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia, he added “As the government, we express our great dissatisfaction and call on the members of parliament not to bury their heads in the sand of Milanovic’s presidential campaign,”.
He accused the president’s decision as being politically motivated, that Milanovic knows fully that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be present at the summit between countries in Southeast Europe and Ukraine, to be held in Dubrovnik.