SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, would never again be part of Ukraine, while Zagreb provided military aid to Kyiv. objected to doing so.
In December, Croatian parliamentarians rejected a proposal for the country to join an EU mission in support of the Ukrainian army, reflecting deep divisions between Milanović and Prime Minister Andrei Plenković.
A vocal critic of Western policies in Ukraine, Milanovic said his country, the EU’s newest member, would face potentially disastrous consequences over the war in Ukraine 11 months ago. said he did not want
What the West is doing to Ukraine is “extremely immoral because there is no solution (to the war),” Milanovic said, referring to Western military support for Kyiv. told reporters during a visit to the military barracks.
He added that the arrival of German tanks in Ukraine would only help bring Russia closer to China.
“It is clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine,” added Milanovic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to restore Ukrainian control over Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, a move that has not been recognized by most other countries.
Russia says the referendum held after Russian forces occupied the peninsula showed that the people of Crimea truly want to be part of Russia. Referendums are not allowed in most countries.
Milanovic criticized Western countries for using double standards in international politics and said Russia would cite the international community’s “annexation of Kosovo” as an excuse to take part of Ukraine.
Milanovic refers to Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, following the 1998-1999 war when NATO countries bombed Yugoslavia, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo. was
“We recognized Kosovo against the will of the country to which it belongs (Serbia),” he said, warning that he was not questioning Kosovo’s independence, but the Western concept of double standards. bottom.
The former prime minister of the Croatian Social Democratic Party (SDP), Milanovic, has taken an anti-EU stance since assuming a largely ceremonial presidency, citing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Bosnian Serb separatists. It is in line with the policies of the activist leader Milorad Dodik. .
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic, Editing by William Maclean)