Croatia – Croatia’s social democrat President Zoran Milanović, who is known for his outspokenness and disregard for political correctness, has made unusual comments about the war in Ukraine. Referring to Kyiv’s declared ambitions to reclaim all of its territory currently occupied by Russia, including the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014 following a controversial referendum that most countries of the world still refuse to recognise, Milanović explained that it was “clear that
Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine.
This is what [even] the German generals say.
For Croatia’s president, this is something all too obvious, as “Russia is a dangerous country” which will not let itself be treated like Serbia was when it had Kosovo carved out as an independent country by NATO forces:
“Just compare the Serbs with the world’s nuclear superpower. Unbridled emotions and hatred put Europe in great danger. We are getting deeper and deeper into a conflict with a superpower.
Do you know what will happen when the Russians start losing the war? They will use nuclear weapons.”
Like the authorities in Belgrade, the Croatian president considers the forced separation of Kosovo from Serbia to be illegitimate: “Who annexed Kosovo? The international community (…). They took it from Serbia. This is not even an annexation, it is a theft, the taking of a part of Serbia’s territory. ”
The Croatian president went on to say that his country did not want to “be involved in this conflict beyond sending humanitarian aid and condemning Russian aggression” and condemned the sending of German-made tanks to Ukraine: “What is the objective? To topple Russia’s government? The German tanks will further consolidate Russian opinion. This will bring them closer to the Chinese.”
