President Milanović after NATO Summit: We will invest in defence from the perspective of our interests and our security
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović participated today with his delegation in the NATO Summit in Vilnius, at which the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Alliance discussed and took a number of decisions important for NATO’s future.
After the meeting, President Milanović told the press that big decisions are being made at the Summit, adding that he hopes we are aware of their consequences. He said that he could not comment on what others said at the meeting, but that he could share his positions. “I spoke about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which I assessed as better than it was, but unsatisfactory – it concerns us all, it is part of the security environment in which the Alliance operates,” said President Milanović.
Furthermore, the President told the press that he spoke about the situation in Kosovo, the attack on KFOR and the need to recognise Kosovo. “Four NATO members have not yet done so. This is an unsustainable contradiction. We are inviting Ukraine into NATO membership, yet among us there are still those who won’t recognise the existence of Kosovo,” said President Milanović.
“We can no longer play an inconsistent game in which, on the other hand, sitting in NATO as our equals are the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro, who have been welcome for years in the most democratic and most delicate military alliance in the world, while in the negotiations with the EU they are kept somewhere there, nowhere. It is even discrimination, it is an unsustainable contradiction,” he said, posing the question of how to explain the fact that these countries can hardly start negotiations with the European Union, while at the same time they have been NATO members for years?
When asked about the defence investment plan, President Milanović replied: “We will look at everything on a case-by-case basis and we will not commit to anything or make any promises before we take a good look from the perspective of our interests and our security. These are all big plans. It is good that at least 2 percent will be allocated, that is an amount that no one had reached yesterday. Much more important than what percentage of GDP you give to defence, is what you can buy with that percentage,” he underscored.
Journalists also asked the President to comment on the fact that Croatia is being represented by two separate delegations at the NATO Summit. “We don’t have two delegations. We have one delegation headed by me. One of the members of the delegation is the Minister of Defence and his assistant. I had to remove that other one from the delegation. Only the heads of delegations are relevant here, they are the only ones who speak,” said President Milanović.
Commenting on the decision-making process at the NATO Summit, the President explained that decisions were being made without our knowledge and that the public should know this due to possible repercussions. “Decisions are being made here which have an awfully deep, tectonic significance and Croatia is taking part in that. None of us, neither I, nor (Prime Minister) Plenković or the Minister, participated in those essential things we learn about at the last minute. This is not a criticism of NATO, but in times like the present, which is terrible and dangerous and some things we don’t want to see, our people have to know that. We are a member of a military alliance that brings together probably the best countries. We entered that group after a lot of trouble and because we belong there,” said President Milanović after today’s NATO Summit. The NATO Summit in the capital of Lithuania continues on Wednesday, when a meeting with the leaders of the European Union and partner countries will be held, as well as an inaugural session of the NATO-Ukraine Council.
President Milanović was accompanied at the NATO Summit by the Head of the Office of the President Orsat Miljenić, Permanent Representative of Croatia to NATO Ambassador Mario Nobilo, Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Admiral Robert Hranj and the Director of the Security and Intelligence Agency Danijel Markić.
In the evening, President Milanović will attend a gala dinner hosted by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda for the Heads of State and Government of NATO Member States.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan