Zagreb, Jan 31 (IANS) Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has criticised the visit to South Korea and Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and condemned the Western decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine.
“I see that the Chief of NATO is in South Korea and Japan … He does not represent me and my country there. It is not a NATO area, but it is in the neighbourhood of China. It has nothing to do with Croatia,” Milanovic said on Monday as he met the Croatian troops dispatched to participate in NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Lithuania.
Stoltenberg is in South Korea and Japan between January 29 and February 1 to address the alleged security threats from North Korea and China.
The Croatian President also condemned the West’s decision to send German tanks to Ukraine, stressing that sending weapons will not end the conflict in Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Russian tanks have burned out and the same fate awaits the German tanks,” Milanovic added.
As opposed to the Croatian government which was willing to participate in the new Military Mission of the EU to support Ukraine, the Croatian President rejects military training for Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia and criticised Western policies in Ukraine.
As some in the European Parliament are talking about “tearing Russia apart,” Milanovic termed the idea as “crazy”.
–IANS
int/khz/
