Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said that he is neither an enemy of Ukraine nor a friend of Russia, but Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic behaves like a “Ukrainian agent.” This was reported on Friday, January 28, by the Croatian state news agency HINA.
According to him, while the head of the republic’s government behaves like a “Ukrainian agent”, Milanovic himself acts as its president, stressing that he is not going to apologize to Kiev for his words that he would withdraw the Croatian military from NATO forces in the event of a conflict. Ukraine with Russia, as Plenkovich did. The President added that corruption in Ukraine is also mentioned in the reports of the European Union.
“It’s good that there is Ukraine, because then we are not the worst,” he said.
In addition, Milanovic refuted the statements of some politicians who called the President of Croatia a pro-Russian politician.
“I am not an enemy of Ukraine and not a friend of Russia. Until recently, I was pro-American when I urged the government to accept a gift from the United States in the form of more than 80 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. You see how these opinions change from week to week,” the Croatian leader explained.
In addition, he accused Ukraine of glorifying the participants in the massacres of Poles and Jews.
Earlier, on January 25, the Prime Minister of Croatia apologized for Milanovic’s words to Ukraine and added that the Croatian president’s statement about the corruption of Kiev is not the country’s position. Plenkovich stressed that the country’s policy is to de-escalate tensions, prevent conflicts and support the integrity of Ukraine.
Recently Milanovic, during a visit to the Kraš enterprise, announced that Croatia, in the event of a conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, would withdraw its military from NATO forces in the region. According to the politician, he knows nothing about the conflict on the border. As he noted, NATO is increasing its presence, but Croatia “has nothing to do with it.” The Croatian leader also noted that Ukraine has no place in NATO, as it remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Later, the President of Croatia was included in the database of the Ukrainian resource “Peacemaker”. As a justification for adding the leader of the country to the database, it was indicated that he was an “anti-Ukrainian propagandist.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanded a public refutation of the “offensive” statements and their non-repetition in the future.
As Balkanist Pavel Kandel, head of the sector of ethno-political and interstate conflicts at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stressed in an interview with Izvestia, the Croatian leader is noted for his sharp statements. At the same time, in this case, Milanovic stated the real state of affairs – no matter what happens in Ukraine, this does not concern Croatia, the expert added.