Croatian President Zoran Milanovych, as he promised, refused to give prior consent to the participation of the Croatian Armed Forces in the EU mission, which organizes the training and education of Ukrainian servicemen.
This was reported by Vecernji List.
The corresponding letter was sent to him by the Minister of Defense Mario Banožić.
In his explanation, Milanović claims that the circumstances surrounding the participation of Croatian servicemen in this mission are unclear and unjustified.
Also, according to Milanovich, the Minister of Defense does not have the authority to initiate a request for a training mission. Therefore, Milanovych expects that the government, perhaps the parliament, will turn to him, and not to Banozych.
Also, according to him, the draft decision does not specifically indicate the activities that will be carried out by members of the Croatian army abroad, nor the actions or measures that will be carried out by the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Republic of Croatia.
Another reason for the refusal is that Ukraine is not formally included in the list of allies of the Republic of Croatia, whose troops can pass and arrive for training in the country, as provided by the constitution and laws.
The training mission of Ukrainian servicemen is the largest military mission of the EU to date, it is expected that about 20 countries will take part in it, and the decision to create a training mission for 15,000 soldiers from Ukraine was already adopted by the foreign ministers on October 17.
The government of the Republic of Croatia also announced Croatia's participation in the mission, and it was rumored that several dozen Ukrainian soldiers would arrive in Croatia for training in demining and providing battlefield medical care.
The government does not want to comment on anything, probably keeping everything secret, but confirms that the choice of these training "modules" is a proposal of the armed forces.
Regarding Milanovych's refusal, Minister Banožych said that now a parliamentary majority of two-thirds of the votes is needed to pass such a decision, and he is confident that it will be obtained.
He claims that he does not see any reason why Milanovych rejected his letter.
As you know, the president of Croatia has repeatedly made anti-Ukrainian statements.