The Croatian Parliament on Friday rejected a government proposal to boost the training of Ukrainian troops on the national territory within the framework of the European Union Military Advisory Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM).
The proposal did not go through because only 97 of the 101 parliamentarians required to do so voted for it, something that soon sparked criticism from Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, as reported by the Croatian radio and television station HRT.
The head of the Croatian government has affirmed that if this vote has served any purpose, it is to mark «a dividing line» between those politicians who «protect the national interest» and the rest, whom he has branded as «dwarfs and cowards».
Likewise, Plenkovic has regretted that this rejection of the training of Ukrainian troops is a sign of «provincialism and complete ignorance of political issues» that could «damage» Croatia’s credibility at the international level. «This should not have happened,» he has said.
For Plenkovic, Croatia’s membership in the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance entails not only a series of rights, but also obligations that the Parliament has now turned its back on. «This failure, in the political sense, will haunt them for a long time,» the prime minister said, referring to the parliamentarians who voted against it.
Finally, alluding to the war with Serbia less than 30 years ago, the Croatian prime minister insisted that the Balkan nation «cannot be insensitive at a time when Russia is committing aggression against Ukraine.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
