ZAGREB, October 27, 2018 - Sending Croatian troops on nine international missions led by the UN, NATO and EU received support in parliament on Friday from the ruling majority and the opposition with the exception of the Živi Zid party, which supports the participation of Croatian troops only in UN missions.
Lawmakers debated the participation of Croatian troops in the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the EU-led EUNAVFOR Med Sophia mission. Also discussed was Croatian troops' involvement in NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Poland, in the KFOR mission in Kosovo, the NATO mission in Iraq, the EU NAVFOR Somalia Atalanta peace mission, and UN sponsored peace missions.
A maximum of 366 Croatian troops will be involved in these missions in 2019 and the Defence Ministry has allocated 124 million kuna for this purpose, State Secretary Tomislav Ivić said.
MP Branimir Bunjac (Živi Zid) objected to Croatia sending its soldiers around the globe while on the other hand it is not providing for its citizens. "Aside from supporting the puppet government in Afghanistan that sells drugs, what use do we have from sending our soldiers to the Russian border? What does Croatia's army have to do in Iraq?" Bunjac asked and added that the Živi Zid supports only those missions sponsored by the United Nations.
"It is dangerous to claim that Croatia will be better off and safer if it is left without allies," MP Davor Ivo Stier (HDZ) told Živi Zid MPs. "At the time of the Great Serbia aggression, we had to arm ourselves and were on our own and without allies," Stier said and underscored that Croatia must never again allow itself to be without allies. "That is why we need defence allies, so that no-one ever again considers attacking Croatia, that's the advantage of NATO membership," Stier said.
MP Anđelko Stričak (HDZ) underscored that the said missions were designed to help establish peace and reduce instability and should therefore be supported.
SDP MP Franko Vidović too voiced his support for deploying Croatian troops to serve in peace missions abroad.
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