Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said on Monday that his country, which is celebrating 15 years of NATO membership, has no say in the decision-making process in the Alliance and that all important decisions in this regard are made in Washington.

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic threatened to withdraw Croatian troops from NATOPhoto: Armend NIMANI / AFP / Profimedia

“These decisions are not binding for me as the Supreme Commander of the Army and tomorrow as the Prime Minister of Croatia,” Zoran Milanovic said, Croatian news agency HINA quoted Agerpres as saying.

Such cardinal decisions with huge impact “are taken without the participation of Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and even Poland. This must be realized,” he continued, adding that “many stupid and crazy decisions were made before what is happening in Ukraine now.”

“At a certain point, NATO was no longer aware of its purpose. (…) This leads to conflicts, so great care is needed. “Croatia is a loyal partner of NATO (…), but it should focus on its problems, its weapons,” Milanović said.

The Croatian president also accused the European Union and the United States of being hostile to Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and criticized Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for not taking action in this regard.

Milanovic, during an Easter visit to the village of Hradec, also said of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that she does not have the legitimacy gained through elections and that she became head of the European executive only because “her friend Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany, he wanted to get rid of her.”

Zoran Milanovych wants to become prime minister and resign from the post of president

Milanovych announced on Friday that he intends to run for the opposition Social Democratic Party in early parliamentary elections on April 17. His stated plan was that if the Social Democrats won, he would become prime minister and resign as president.

He mentioned in the context of the controversial policy of Prime Minister Andrii Plenkovich in the sphere of justice, which, according to his critics, fuels corruption.

Milanovic and Plenkovic are bitter rivals, dpa shows. The president has repeatedly expressed his support for Russia, while the head of government continues the pro-Ukrainian line of his CDU political formation, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.

Zoran Milanovych made these remarks about three weeks before early parliamentary elections on April 17.

The political life of Croatia was shaken by the announcement of Milanović’s candidacy at the head of the list of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Zagreb. The Constitutional Court blocked his candidacy, arguing that he must resign as head of state before running for prime minister.

However, Zoran Milanovic said he would not resign and said he would succeed Andrej Plenkovic as prime minister after the election with the support of the parties that get a majority.

Political scientists believe that the president, who is leading in the polls, has significantly increased the electoral chances of the SDP and other left-wing parties with his statement.

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