Macron’s troops to Ukraine message fuels conflict between Plenković, Milanović

The rift between Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and President Zoran Milanović continued to widen after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that a future deployment of Western troops in Ukraine should not be ultimately “ruled out”.

Some 20 European leaders gathered in Paris on Monday for a Ukraine support summit, put together under Macron’s auspices late last week as Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its third year, aimed to find ways for Western countries to further their military support for Kyiv.

Although Macron clarified already on Monday, following a gathering of European leaders in Paris, that there was ‘no consensus’ on the matter, his words stood in stark contrast to the Western European ‘red line’ when it came to putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, and several EU capitals, including Berlin, Warsaw, and Madrid, dismissed his comments on Tuesday.

Although Plenković also said that Croatia would not send soldiers to Ukraine, his participation in the meeting and his messages opened the door to a new conflict with Milanović.

Namely, Plenković said that Croatia does not intend to send soldiers to Ukraine but that Zagreb will continue to help Kyiv as it has done so far – economically, financially, militarily and humanely, but without direct involvement in the war.

He added that in December 2022, only four votes were needed in parliament to approve Croatia’s participation in the EUNAM training mission for Ukrainian soldiers.

“Since we didn’t even succeed in that symbolism, we didn’t even offer the option of Croatian soldiers going to Ukraine,” Plenković told reporters on Tuesday when they asked him what Zagreb’s position was on Macron’s announcement that the West might have to send soldiers.

Later, he also said that no one from Croatia in Paris even asked to send soldiers to Ukraine.

Milanović’s office reacted strongly to Plenković’s words.

“What exactly was discussed in Paris, and what did Plenković promise there on behalf of Croatia (as last year he promised to train Ukrainian soldiers without consulting the President of the Republic)?” asked the president’s office.

“In whose name and for whose interest does Plenković claim the right to even participate in discussions about the participation of Croatian soldiers in the war in Ukraine? Is Plenković pushing for mandatory military training in Croatia to prepare Croatian soldiers to be sent to war in Ukraine?” they added.

Milanović assessed in the press release that “Plenković has not regretted to this day that the Croatian parliament prevented the indirect involvement of Croatia in the war in Ukraine” and that “it particularly bothers him that now he cannot lead Croatia into an even greater disaster, that is, he cannot arbitrarily offer to send Croatian soldiers to Ukraine”.

“If there was no Croatian Parliament and the President of the Republic, it is clear that Plenković would have directly involved Croatia in the war in Ukraine,” stated the President’s Office.

The conflict between Plenković and Milanović over the war in Ukraine has been ongoing since Russian aggression against the country began in February 2022.

Plenković accuses Milanović of “Russophilia” and previously said he “acts like some Kremlin official”.

Milanović, on the other hand, assessed a long time ago that Ukraine is not in NATO, so Croatia has no obligations towards it.

Plenković met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday at the summit of Southeast European countries and Ukraine in Tirana, and, as he wrote on X, offered Ukraine help with demining.

(Adriano Milovan | Euractiv.hr)