The Croatian parliamentary majority supports Finland's and Sweden's aspirations to join NATO, while statements by Zoran Milanović about blocking NATO enlargement are causing damage to Croatia's reputation and credibility, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Tuesday.
President Zoran Milanović's statements "are causing damage to Croatia's foreign policy. They are putting us to shame in the international community, and considering they are directly linked to resolving the status of the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they are also damaging to the Croats in BiH," Grlić Radman told the press after a meeting of the ruling coalition.
Croatia recognises the importance of Finland and Sweden as highly-developed countries when it comes to the rule of law and democracy, respect for human rights and their membership in NATO would contribute to strengthening collective defence and security, Grlić Radman said.
Grlić Radman said that Milanović's statement that he would condemn any MP voting in favour of Finland's and Sweden's accession to NATO as traitors, was authoritarian, autocratic and reminiscent of the communist era.
He added that Milanović "is destroying Croatia's reputation and credibility in the eyes of the international community creating a perception that it is a country embroiled in incidents."
It is wrong to connect Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO with the issue of the Croats in BiH, Grlić Radman underscored, adding that that just went against the Croats there.
Grlić Radman said that Milanović discovered the Croats in BiH a year ago and now he is presenting himself as their "saviour."
What is more, he had Vesna Pusić as his minister who said that Croatia had carried out aggression against BiH and who supported a civic concept for the country and did not recognise the needs of the Croats there.
"At key moments he behaved like a traitor and fraud when it was necessary to strongly advocate the equality of Croats and to amend the election law....," said Grlić Radman.
Grlić Radman said Milanović was not giving up his pro-Russian attitude even though earlier in the day he said that Russia was the aggressor against Ukraine and he was not on its side.
Grlić Radman said the public should know that the president "is actively working on bringing down the government and everything the government has done so far."
"We will strongly resist that politically and by all legal means," concluded Grlić Radman.
Text: Hina/MFEA
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