Croatian President Zoran Milanović has criticised his county’s military aid to Ukraine and claimed that Crimea will never return to Kyiv, likening the region to the situation in Kosovo.
The Croatian president, who heads a NATO member state, commented on his country’s military aid to Ukraine this week, countering Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who has been supportive of Kyiv in its continuing fight against Russia.
Milanović claimed that the actions of the west were “deeply immoral” and stated there was no solution to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, arguing that German tanks being sent to Ukraine would push Russia toward China, Reuters reports.
“It is clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine,” The Croatian president said and claimed that there were double standards among western nations who recognize the independence of Kosovo from Serbia.
Anti-Brexit Euro MP Brands Orban 'Traitor' for Urging Humanitarian Aid, Not Weapons, for Ukraine https://t.co/EnkN1DJprE
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 1, 2023
“We annexed Kosovo. The international community, including us,” he said and added, “It was not an annexation, it was a kidnapping, part of Serbian territory was taken away.”
Milanović clarified that he was not questioning Kosovo but the concept “where you think you can do anything when it suits you, but if the other side does it, then it’s a crime.”
Ukraine has slammed the Croatian president’s comments, with Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko stating, “I wonder if Zoran Milanović would have become president of his country with such rhetoric in the 1990s when Croatia was struggling to preserve its statehood? Would his voters agree to turn a blind eye to the occupation of part of their country? I doubt it.”
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković also distanced himself and the government from Milanović’s statements.
President Milanović is not the first senior European politician to criticise the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
Tens of Thousands of 'Czech Republic First' Protesters Demand End to Russia Sanctions War https://t.co/cpuJAPyqod
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 3, 2022
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also been critical of western support for the conflict, blocking an $18 billion European Union aid package in December, arguing that Hungary was willing to give aid on a bilateral basis.
Orban later stated in an interview that he feared the Ukraine conflict could go on for as long as Washington wants it to, stating, “This danger is possible. At the same time though, Ukraine can only continue fighting as long as the United States is supporting them with money and weapons. If the Americans want peace, then there will be peace.”
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