President Milanović after Meeting with President Duda: Poland will not send troops on a mission to Ukraine, nor will Croatia
“We are loyal to our allies in NATO — it is a bond of loyalty and fidelity, rooted in our shared membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and the North Atlantic Treaty. Everything beyond that represents a cold and unfamiliar world — especially from the perspective of a country like Croatia — one that we observe but cannot deeply engage with. Poland has stated that it will not send troops on any hypothetical mission to Ukraine that could very easily and very quickly turn into a combat operation. Poland clearly does not wish to take part in this, and nor will Croatia. It’s a topic that can always be discussed — I don’t believe any topic should be treated as taboo — but I believe this is not the right course of action,” said President Zoran Milanović following his meeting and discussions with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is on an official visit to the Republic of Croatia today at the President’s invitation.
Responding to a journalist’s question about how the war in Ukraine could or should end, and how his views differ from those of President Duda, President Milanović said: “You’re already familiar with both President Duda’s and my position. We are not here to negotiate or to find a solution — that’s neither within our mandate nor our power — but rather to talk. Unfortunately, the outcome will not be a just one. The war in Ukraine will, regrettably, not end in a fair or just way, because that is simply unrealistic. We will be returning to a world of realpolitik — something we haven’t experienced in the past thirty years. But that will be the only way to endure. Russia and Poland will not be friends in the next hundred — or even fifty — years, and we will have to live with that reality.”
“We are a member of NATO. We will be present wherever NATO is present — in NATO member states — but not beyond that,” President Milanović reiterated in a statement to the media. He also emphasized the need for greater European independence from the United States. “In some respects, Europe has made itself dependent on the United States, and that needs to change. We need more autonomy in foreign policy and, as much as possible, greater solidarity among ourselves. We also need to be realistic when discussing the percentage of GDP allocated to defense. It’s not just about the percentage — we need to ask what we can actually buy with that amount,” President Milanović added.
After the meeting held at the Office of the President of the Republic on Pantovčak, President Milanović said: “It is a particular pleasure for me to host the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, at the close of his second term. These ten years have been marked by a successful and interesting presidency during turbulent times — times that demanded resolute and capable leaders, and President Duda has certainly been one.”
“This was not the first opportunity for our conversation, nor our first meeting. This is the first time we are meeting in this format, where both of our positions are mutually known, and we are both expressing them publicly,” President Milanović said, adding: “So, we did not negotiate, but rather talked, exchanged opinions, and commented on the painful and seemingly insoluble problems of today’s European security. I am not the one, nor is Croatia, who can resolve this, and I fear that Poland cannot do it alone. It will require a great deal of patience and time to sort these things out.”
According to the Croatian President, “Poland is a large and very important country with its own traditions and fixed national interests, which cannot change with the season.” “I am pleased that we, Croats and Poles, can say with a high level of understanding that our relationship is healthy and friendly, and not just because hundreds of thousands of Poles come to Croatia every year, or because of our trade relations, which would be better if they were more favourable to Croatia and less so to Poland. But, after all, there will always be some imbalance in any relationship. Someone always exports a little more, but in the end, it all somehow balances out if both parties are willing to talk,” said President Milanović, among other things, when discussing relations between Croatia and Poland.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek, Marko Beljan, Filip Glas