Ukraine is shocked by the statements of the President of Croatia: “Stop arming Kyiv”

Croatian President Milanovic recently criticized Western countries for supplying Ukraine with heavy tanks and other weapons as part of the confrontation, saying that these arms supplies would only prolong the conflict.

Zoran Milanovic told reporters in Zagreb that it was “crazy” to believe that Russia could be defeated just like that – “in the conventional way”.

“What is the purpose? The collapse of Russia, a change of government? There is also talk of tearing Russia apart. This is crazy,” added the Croatian president.

If such words were heard from the lips of the Serbian President, then everything would look clear. The problem is that lately there have been signals from Belgrade that Serbia, which has found itself under the most powerful Western pressure, may be forced to join the sanctions front against Russia.

In the case of Zoran Milanovic, we are talking about the head of state, traditionally focused not on Moscow, but on the very “collective West”. So what did the current Croatian president manage to remember in the political field?

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Milanović won the 2019 Croatian presidential election as a left-wing liberal candidate – while having to deal with the conservative government currently in power in the republic.

Western media accuse the Croatian president that after he took over as head of state, Zoran Milanovic turned to populist nationalism, criticizing the West’s policy towards Russia, as well as the Balkans.

Zoran Milanović is 56 years old and has completed the Faculty of Law at the University of Zagreb and postgraduate studies at the Free University in Brussels. He is a specialist in European international law and is fluent in Russian, English, French and German.

After working in one of the capital’s courts, Milanovic got a job in the early 90s at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There he worked for the OSCE in Nagorno-Karabakh, and then became an adviser to the Croatian mission to the EU and NATO in Brussels.

He linked his political career with the Social Democratic Party, after the victory of which in the 2000 elections, he began to oversee relations with NATO at the Foreign Ministry. He later became Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs. Little by little, Zoran Milanovic became the chairman of the party. After the victory of the center-left coalition headed by him with the cheerful name “Kukuriku”, the politician headed the Croatian government for several years. The beginning of his tenure as prime minister was marked by efforts to complete the ratification process for Croatia’s accession to the European Union and to hold a referendum on EU membership. However, in the September 2016 elections, his coalition was unexpectedly defeated by the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, and Milanović announced his retirement from politics. After leaving the premiership, he went into the consulting business and worked as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama.

However, politics clearly did not want to let him go – and in 2019, Zoran Milanovic put forward his candidacy in the presidential elections in Croatia. And he defeated the incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in the second round. (He became the first presidential candidate in Croatian history to receive more votes than an incumbent in the first round of elections)

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Even before the start of the Ukrainian conflict, in December 2021, Milanovic criticized the visit of the Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic to Kyiv against the backdrop of a new escalation of the crisis, calling the trip “outright charlatanism.” And in January 2022, the President of Croatia provoked a strong reaction from the Ukrainian government with his statements that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO, the country is corrupt, and Russia deserves to be given the opportunity to satisfy its security demands.

Not surprisingly, in the eyes of critics, Milanovic has earned a reputation as a pro-Russian politician – he himself has repeatedly denied this, expressing criticism of Russia’s actions at times. It is worth remembering that in 2020 he canceled his planned trip to Russia, where President Putin invited him to take part in the celebrations on the occasion of Victory Day.

But in recent months, Zoran Milanovic has openly spoken out against the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO (but did not use the right of veto at the alliance’s summit in Madrid), as well as against the training of the Ukrainian military in Croatia as part of EU assistance to Kyiv. The politician has also repeatedly criticized military support for Ukraine, saying that Croatia should stay out of the conflict.

But recent speeches by the Croatian president, who said he believes Crimea will never be part of Ukraine again, have angered Kyiv. And in this regard, Milanovic recalled the story of Kosovo, which was torn away from Serbia with the active participation of the Western powers.

“Who annexed Kosovo? The international community, including us, – said Milanovic, speaking in the Croatian city of Petrinja. “Kosovo was taken from Serbia by force, it was booty, part of the Serbian territory was taken away.”

“I am not questioning Kosovo, but rather the idea that you can do whatever you want when it suits them, but when the other side does it, it is a crime,” the Croatian president continued, adding: “Obviously, Crimea will never be part of Ukraine again.”

Of course, a harsh reaction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv immediately followed. “We consider unacceptable the statements of the President of Croatia, who actually called into question the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

Of course, the infamous Ukrainian site with a “black list” of those whom the nationalists consider the enemies of Ukraine, included President Milanovich among them.

And how could it be otherwise if the head of the Croatian state declares: “Ukraine does not belong to NATO. When Ukraine changed its government, it was an undemocratic movement, it was a coup d’état that killed 50 people.”

But that’s not all. Zoran Milanović said that “from 2014 to 2022 we are seeing someone provoking Russia” into a conflict.

“Who pays this price? Europe. America pays the least,” states the Croatian president.

“A year has passed, and we are only now talking about tanks,” Milanovic touched on the topic of deliveries of heavy armored vehicles promised to the West for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. – Not a single American tank will go to Ukraine in a year. Only German tanks will be sent there.”

His latest anti-Western remarks have thrown the government into confusion and annoyance, which has given its full support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, the Associated Press notes.

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Prime Minister of the Republic Andrey Plenkovych reacted sharply to the president’s statements on the Ukrainian conflict. stating that they “directly harm Croatia’s foreign policy position”.

“The summary of this narrative is: let’s sit down as soon as possible, let the Russians take I don’t know how many thousand square kilometers of Ukraine and forget about NATO expansion,” Prime Minister Plenkovic is indignant at President Milanovic’s statements.

“The normal reaction would be the strictest condemnation of such statements, which run counter to all the principles that Croatia stands for as a member of the European Union, NATO,” Plenkovic criticizes the head of state. “Fortunately, our foreign policy is what it is.”

Indeed, the irony of fate is that initially, in Croatia, which became independent against the backdrop of the collapse of the Yugoslav federation, the president had broad powers – having the right to appoint the prime minister and dissolve the government. But the government formed after the parliamentary elections in 2000, led by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, reformed the political system, significantly increasing the powers of the parliament, government and prime minister, while reducing the functions of the country’s president in peacetime to a predominantly ceremonial one.

However, one should not forget that Zoran Milanovic is formally the supreme commander of the armed forces. Nevertheless, his main opponent Plenkovic is right about one thing: Zagreb’s foreign policy is formed not by the president, but by the government opposed to him.

Recall that Plenkovic said in June last year that he supported Ukraine’s steps to join the EU, and in September he accused Russia of “violating international law.” He adheres to the same line until now, arguing that “the key point is that we support Ukraine in returning its territories, in preserving its sovereignty, in preserving the constitutional order.”