The President of the Republic was neither consulted nor informed of how Croatia would vote on the UN resolution: The Government has marked Croatia as an opponent of peace

The Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia at the United Nations voted at the UN General Assembly against a resolution that calls for an immediate humanitarian truce and an end to the hostilities in Gaza, acting exclusively on instructions from the Government. The Office of the President of the Republic was neither consulted nor informed of the position to be represented by the Croatian Ambassador to the UN on behalf of the Republic of Croatia.

This is not the first time that the Government did not consult with the President of the Republic on foreign policy decisions, thus violating its constitutional obligation to co-create Croatia’s foreign policy with the President of the Republic. However, in this delicate case, with its injudicious and harmful decision the Government has marked the Republic of Croatia as an opponent of peace and violator of international humanitarian law, thus inflicting long-term damage to the country’s international reputation. It is even more dangerous that with its decision the Government has unnecessarily compromised national security and exposed the Republic of Croatia to potential risks, for which it will have to bear full responsibility.

Croatia should have abstained during the vote on the resolution as most EU member states did. It is difficult to understand the reasons that made the Government so overtly depart from advocacy for peace and respect for humanitarian law, unless this case, too, is about the personal political interests and positioning of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. This probably makes it now clear to everyone why the Prime Minister does not want an agreement on personnel changes in Croatia’s diplomatic network: Andrej Plenković wants to keep the existing diplomats who unquestioningly obey his political orders. The vote by the Ambassador to the UN, without previous consultations and agreement with the President of the Republic, proves that Andrej Plenković has turned Croatia’s diplomacy into a service of his yes-men.