President Milanović: The NATO mission will take place on the territory of Ukraine and the citizens of Croatia must know that
“I was of course not against the declaration adopted at NATO’s summit in July, that’s a lie, because, had I been against the declaration, it would not have been adopted. And then, no country that wants to participate or thinks that it wants to participate or by inertia participates in this, in my opinion, madness, would not be able to do so. Consequently, the decision was made erga omnes. Since then and even before that, I have been saying the whole time that I will not allow Croatia to be dragged deeper and further into the war. And that is exactly what is happening now. My duty is not to frighten people and I am not doing that – maybe I do scare them, with reason, with the HDZ because I consider that party a problem maybe even bigger that the war in Ukraine – but it is my duty to tell them the truth and to warm them of the consequences of that truth”, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated on Friday in a statement to the press explaining why he did not give prior consent to the Government’s proposed decision on Croatia’s participation in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission.
“The truth is the following. The decision was made and states can participate but, as far as I’m concerned, Croatia will not. Mine is not last. My position will always be that we do not participate in such antics and irresponsible adventures. I’ve been saying this since the beginning. And not only because, or not because the majority of citizens think so, but because I deeply believe in it and what my human, political and other experience tells me. Therefore, that mission is one step closer to war. Definitely. And that after more than two and a half years since the war broke out and Russia attacked Ukraine. Did you wonder why until now NATO, in the format of NATO, it did not participate in this way? The European Union botched something, we rejected that two years ago in the Croatian Parliament, however, NATO did not so far. Therefore, NATO is getting directly involved in the war”, the President warned.
Speaking about NATO’s mission of direct staff support and planning for Ukraine’s military needs, President Milanović reminded that “this is what has been done bilaterally so far, and now NATO is doing it”. “This is an entry into the war. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether Croatian soldiers or officers are in Wiesbaden or Ukraine. However, this mission will take place on the territory of Ukraine. The presence of NATO personnel will be on the territory of Ukraine. Is this what the citizens of Croatia and all citizens of all NATO members should know? Of course they should. To make an informed and smart decision. I will not put my signature on such antics”, the President further warned, talking about the disputed NATO mission.
If MPs think that this is the right thing for Croatia, he stressed, that is their responsibility. “So, mine is not the last in this line. Mine is last in commanding the armed forces in practically everything that has an internal character within Croatia. In this case, it is possible that a number of people will fall for Plenković’s lies. It’s quite possible, but I hope it won’t happen,” he added.
“So, I don’t put myself above anyone. My duty is to warn of danger, of the risks and that Croatia will not participate in it either now or in the next five years that I will be president. Quite simply, I have a need to say it and emphasize it a hundred times if necessary. Because, I repeat, I signed 12 decisions, as well as the decision to significantly increase the contingent of Croatian soldiers in the forward presence of support for NATO members. So, it is support for NATO. That’s something I think is correct. We can talk about whether there is a real threat to these countries, but if they will feel better due to the presence of our soldiers – and we are talking about hundreds of soldiers – let them be in Poland, let them be in Lithuania, let them be at the headquarters in Hungary”, the President of the Republic noted.
Commenting on Prime Minister Plenković’s statement, he said: “Plenković mentioned some of my deals with Putin, he said that today, that he is interested in what my deals are with Putin. Well, Kolinda invited Putin to Croatia while Russia was under sanctions, since 2014. She was photographed there, celebrated in Moscow at the World Cup. The invitation was sent then, and I formally and courteously repeated it in 2020 and never again after that. Subsequently, Foreign Minister Grlić Radman went to Moscow just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and invited Putin to Croatia. Therefore, it was absolutely not the time for deals with Putin, but Plenković obviously had them, and Grlić Radman recited poems to Lavrov”, President Milanović reminded.
“I can then ask Plenković analogously – what are his agreements with Ukraine, what are his agreements with the Rafale and with France? Why purchase used aircraft when a few years later the same goods, but of better quality, are sold to Serbia? Are these Plenković’s agreements? What is his, or someone else’s, deal to buy Turkish drones? Come on, ask yourselves, on the basis of which tactical-technical study was the decision made to acquire exactly that and for exactly that amount? Which branch of the army asked for it?”, President Milanović inquired.
The President agrees that drones are a necessity today, but warns of the manner in which their purchase was negotiated. “During Banožić’s time, Turkish salespeople came to Croatia to offer their goods. They came here, it was not because of the expressed need of someone from the army. Then someone went to Turkey, Banožić, and that story continues. And Croatia, as we now learn, is buying unmanned aerial vehicles for slightly less than 100 million dollars, the ones that have all been downed over Ukraine. Why those? Why that kind and why from that manufacturer? And then, after selling them to us, will they sell those same aircraft to the Serbs in a year? Because we see how it’s done. And we see how the people who represent us run our affairs,” said President Milanović.