ZAGREB, 23 March 2022 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was a war criminal, hopeful that "the Russian autocratic regime" would not last long and claiming that Croatia "would know how to respond" if Russian threats were to become a reality.

Speaking in an interview with Croatian Radio, Grlić Radman said that he did not consider threats by the Russian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor Kalabukhov, as realistic, describing them as a form of intimidation.

A few days ago, Kalabukhov warned that Moscow had the right to respond to Bosnia and Herzegovina's potential membership in NATO, asking the interviewer: "How do you know we do not have plans also against Croatia, Poland and Bulgaria as NATO members?"

In an unlikely scenario of the threats becoming a reality, Croatia "would know how to respond" with its allies, said Grlić Radman.

"The ambassador's threat concerns not only Croatia but the entire EU, and if it were to become a reality, it would activate Article 5" of the North Atlantic Treaty, which says that an armed attack against one member state is considered an armed attack against them all, Grlić Radman said.

"That would cause a new escalation of the conflict, which is in no one's interest and I am certain it will be avoided, and ways would be found to negotiate with the Russian president", the minister said.

He added that Putin "has already committed war crimes, but one must negotiate in war."

Putin will "not have any choice because he has not accomplished what he wanted - to conquer Ukraine," said Grlić Radman.

Regime, people not the same thing

Two months after his official visit to Moscow, where he said that "good relations with Ukraine really do not rule out good relations with Russia," Grlić Radman said that he was referring to the Russian people.

"There is no equal sign between a regime and a people. Peoples stay, policies change. I hope this autocratic regime will not last long," he stressed.

The minister said that the EU had pursued a two-track policy towards Russia, with sanctions as well as an open diplomatic channel with Moscow, and that a number of EU ministers had visited Russia before the invasion of Ukraine to advocate de-escalation.

He said that five Croatian nationals were still in Ukraine, and anyone who wanted to leave the country had done so.

More than 9,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Croatia and the number keeps changing, he said.

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ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - Leaders in Europe should stop blaming Brussels for everything as they also participate in policymaking of the European Union (EU), Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Munich on Sunday.

Addressing the "Fostering European Cohesion" panel discussion within the three-day conference, Minister Grlić Radman held a keynote speech instead of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who cancelled his attendance after his father passed away on Saturday evening.

"If we want to preserve our Union, based on the values, the elected office-holders should cease bearing a grudge against Brussels for everything. Brussels only yields the outcomes in which creation we participate", said the Croatian minister.

Grlić Radamn added that the process of decision-making in the EU had always been complicated and thus difficult, as the process had been conceived to take into account the differences between big and small, rich and poor countries with diverse cultures and languages so as to make it possible for each voice to be heard.

"This has been a success, and the EU is the most successful peace project in the world."

"Nowadays, European leaders are faced with new economic and political pressures", he said.

"Negotiating has become a more and more difficult task, the pressure from the public is growing and the digital environment makes each voice, no matter how extreme it may be, resonate strongly and far", he said.

"Some of the politicians engaged in the struggle against irresponsible populists have taken over their language, and it often includes blaming Brussels for everything", he said.

During the discussion, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that it was not strange that the EU was in a state of crisis as the entire world is in a crisis.

"It may be that we have internal wranglings, but we take concerted actions at the global level", she added.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called for more emphasis on commonalities for all in the EU.

The 58th Munich Security Conference was held from 18 to 20, at its usual venue in Munich, the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

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ZAGREB, 20 Feb 2022 - Croatia has advised its citizens staying in east Ukrine to leave that area, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said in Munich on Sunday.

The recommendation has been adopted during an intensive communication session with Croatia's Ambassador in Kyev and following the experience of other countries, said the minister.

A week ago, Grlić Radman said that there were 25 Croatians in the east of that country.

Most of them are believed to have departed from the area in the meantime.

The Croatian minister said in Munich today that the situation in Ukrine was worrisome, however this did not mean that it would escalate.

"Diplomatic efforts are being made to prevent escalation", said Grlić Radman in the Bavarian capital city where he attended the international security conference.

This year's conference has brought together US Vice President Kamala Harris, State Secretary Antony Blinken, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, amongst other office-holders.

Russia has not sent any representative for the first time in recent years.

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ZAGREB, 29 Jan 2022 - Croatian President Zoran Milanović said on Friday that Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman had officially invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Croatia, but not on his behalf.

During a visit to Sisak, Milanović was answering questions from the press concerning accusations from the ruling HDZ party that he had pro-Russian views and that his statements caused harm to Croatia's reputation.

"The dumb foreign minister visited Moscow the other day," Milanović said in reference to Grlić Radman's official visit to Russia on 17 January.

"What was he doing in Moscow? I would expect he went to reproach (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey) Lavrov, but no, he goes there and hands in an official invitation for Putin to visit Croatia."

"Is he the president of the state? Does he speak on my behalf? He does not. (PM Andrej) Plenković is not the head of state and cannot play host to Putin," said Milanović.

"So the very same Russians that you threaten and stigmatise you hypocritically invite to Croatia," Milanović said.

The president denied having been the one to speculate that Croatian troops would go to Ukraine.

"No, it was Jutarnji List (daily) that did it, saying on its front page that NATO is looking for 1,500 soldiers" and asking if Croatia would send them, Milanović said.

"And what is that but alarming the public?"

"I never said that NATO had asked for that, I said preemptively that Croatia would not send its troops."

"Croatia will not send troops to Ukraine, and as for Poland and Lithuania, we'll see in the future," Milanović said, adding that HDZ officials did not know what they were saying, did not listen to what was said, and did not read the newspaper "that is the long arm and prosthetic device of the Plenković government."

Croatia was not liberated by NATO

Milanović went on to say that Hanza Media, the company that publishes Jutarnji List, scared the public by saying that 1,500 Croatian troops would go to Ukraine.

"Someone had to tell the public that that is a lie, so I said it."

Speaking of the situation in eastern Europe and possible deployment of troops along Ukraine's eastern border, Milanović said that Croatia would not promise anything to anyone unconditionally.

"That's not credibility, that's lack of intelligence. We'll see what happens. If the situation escalates, our people will not expose themselves to the risk," Milanović said, adding that ultimately, the decision was up to him.

"Either that or the two-thirds majority in the parliament, and that will never happen because people have a brain in their head and care for this country, unlike the HDZ, which only steals, insults and disgraces," said Milanović.

"Croatia has not been asked anything yet, and should not be," he said, repeating that Croatian troops would not be sent to Ukraine.

"If things get more complicated, the army will not go anywhere. They will be in Kosovo and in Croatia. Croatia paid too high a price and nobody helped it significantly in its struggle. Croatia was not liberated by NATO but by Croatian soldiers."

"Croatia does not owe anyone anything to have to gamble and for (Croatians) to be sheep for slaughter," Milanović said, recommending that his critics go to Ukraine.

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ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Thursday that because of President Zoran Milanović's statements about Ukraine, he had to call nearly every one of his counterparts and apologise.

Milanović said on Tuesday that Ukraine did not belong in NATO, that it was one of the world's most corrupt countries, that president Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in 2014 in a military coup, and that the crisis on the Ukraine-Russia border was a consequence of the US home policy.

Ukraine issued a strong response and Milanović's statements were reported by world media.

"We are appalled. I, as minister, have indeed a heavy burden and responsibility because of the ambassadors, who have been besieging me, asking what to say and how, how to communicate," Grlić Radman told the press.

"I have to call nearly every minister and apologise, say that what Milanović said is not the government's official position."

He said there was allegedly an initiative in Ukraine to declare Milanović persona non grata.

"I think the Croatian state doesn't deserve such behaviour" from the president, the minister said, "the Croatian state created with the blood of Croatian defenders, which was led by the visionary first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, who would certainly turn in his grave were he to hear such a narrative."

He said this was an attempt "to destabilise the Croatian authorities" and that it had caused Croatia "big reputational damage" in the international community.

Ukraine is not the first state with which Milanović has managed to "make Croatia quarrel" as ambassadors have been summoned because of his statements also in Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, he added.

Grlić Radman expects of the president "a constructive policy, one which will promote peace, stability and cooperation, send positive, affirmative messages, which will result in cooperation with other presidents and which will contribute to the further affirmation of Croatia's foreign policy."

ZAGREB, 22 Jan 2022 - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Saturday attended via video link a round table discussion on the minorities as bridges of cooperation between Croatia and Montenegro, which was held in Podgorica.

In his address to the conference, Grlić Radman said that Montenegro was on the right track to recognise its strength and values in diversities, the Croatian ministry stated in a press release.

"We have had and still have many outstanding issues concerning our cultural heritage. However, the agile work of the Croatian National Council in Montenegro, led by the council president Zvonimir Deković, in cooperation with us and Croatian institutions, finds ways to satisfy the fundamental customs to the mutual benefit of both countries," said the minister, citing examples of the ethnic Croat heritage in Montenegro such as the cult of St. Tryphon, the tradition of the Croatian fraternity Bokeljska Mornarica, and local Marian shrines and so on.

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ZAGREB, 21 Jan 2022 - European countries should assume greater responsibility for their own security through NATO and the EU given that the United States "is increasingly preoccupied with the Indo-Pacific and China," Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Friday.

"Because of all that as well as the fact that we no longer live in stable post-Cold War times, the EU can no longer rely only on soft security instruments, but must develop capabilities for independent crisis management, including military ones," he said in a Conference on the Future of Europe debate in Pula.

Still, he added, Croatia "clearly sees NATO as the main guarantor of Euro-Atlantic security and its NATO membership as the main protection from possible external aggression."

"We advocate further deepening the partnership with NATO, which remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, and strengthening cooperation with the most important partner, the United States, in a score of topics," said Grlić Radman.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias also took part in the debate, saying that strengthening Europe's defense policy is complementary to NATO.

"Can we rely on NATO? For Greece, and we have a real security problem, there is no dilemma. The European defense initiative is of use for NATO and Euro-Atlantic cooperation," he said, adding that those are not two "antagonistic" concepts.

The most prominent advocate of strengthening European defense cooperation and creating a European army is French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We must be realistic. If we want the EU as a global actor, we must start at home and in our neighborhood. We need more unity and more solidarity. We must take others' security problems very seriously," Dendias said.

Grlić Radman reiterated Croatia's stand on the need to change Bosnia and Herzegovina's electoral law before this year's vote in order to prevent the more numerous Bosniaks from electing Croat representatives in the House of Peoples and the Croat member of the Presidency.

"BiH is at a crossroads. An agreement on changes to the electoral law and restricted constitutional changes would improve the political atmosphere in the country and replace the existing mistrust between the key political parties, with a view to achieving a more stable and more prosperous BiH," he said.

"The absence of an agreement would push Bosnia deeper into a political crisis with fatal consequences," he said, reiterating that Croatia pushes for BiH as one state of three constituent peoples and two entities.

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ZAGREB, 17 Jan 2022 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman thanked his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Monday for Moscow's support when Croatia was gaining independence in the early 1990s and said that Croatia's "good relations with Ukraine do not rule out good relations with Russia."

Grlić Radman was on a return visit to Lavrov and the first EU minister in Moscow this year.

Croatia and Russia will mark 30 years of diplomatic relations on 25 May. Russia recognized Croatia on 17 February 1992, a month after EU member states did.

Speaking at a press conference, Lavrov said Russia saw Croatia as "a respected European partner" with which it has historical and cultural ties.

Grlić Radman spoke of the "brave resistance to the Slobodan Milošević regime's Greater Serbia aggression whereby Croatia succeeded in defending its own territory," thanking Lavrov for the "constructive role, recognition and assistance" in the 1990s.

"In the last 30 years, Croatia managed to achieve great things and Russia was always there when it was necessary, so thank you once again for that", Grlić Radman said.

He added that Russia's president, prime minister, interior, and justice ministers have an open invitation to visit Croatia.

The two ministers talked about intensifying business ties, cooperation in tourism, culture, science, and sports, and the signing of an agreement on a Russian cultural center in Croatia.

Croatia's experience in Ukraine

Grlić Radman said when this visit was being arranged, international circumstances were much more different, but that this provided an opportunity to talk "quite openly" about the current geopolitical situation.

His visit to Moscow coincides with high tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine. Western capitals are concerned about the buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, claiming Russia is preparing an invasion, while Moscow seeks legal guarantees from the West that NATO will not spread eastwards.

Grlić Radman told the press he conveyed to Lavrov some messages from an informal meeting of European ministers held in Brest, France last week.

Croatia and Russia believe a solution should be found as part of the Minsk agreements from 2014 and 2015. They envisage the full withdrawal of the army from eastern Ukraine, greater autonomy for Donetsk and Luhansk, or restoring full Ukrainian control over the eastern border.

Recently in Kyiv, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who used to chair the European Parliament's delegation for Ukraine, and Croatian diplomats openly supported Ukraine's territorial integrity, offering to share Croatia's experience in the peaceful reintegration of its Danube River Region in the 1990s.

Grlić Radman said that offer was not against Moscow and that "good relations with Ukraine do not rule out good relations with Russia."

He said the peaceful reintegration of Croatia's Danube River Region was one of the most successful operations approved by all UN Security Council member states, including Russia as a significant participant in that process.

"Of course, the Croatian model is not the same as the Ukrainian, but some experiences related to the civilian sector could help," he said, adding that Croatia, "in the bilateral relations with Ukraine, has no intention of doing anything that is not in line with the Minsk agreement."

Lavrov said Croatia and Ukraine had different interpretations of "the transfer of the experience in peaceful integration," with Croatia "thinking about the humanitarian aspects, solving language problems, creating cultural autonomies" and Ukraine wanting to use "the military part of the process that went on."

"Such intentions, which I hope won't occur, are dangerous," he said, adding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said that "Ukrainians who consider themselves Russian can leave for Russia."

"During our talks, we realized that Zagreb understands our rhetoric and remarks" about Kyiv's aspiration to use the military elements of Croatia's experience, Lavrov said, adding that for the Ukrainian issue "there is no plan B, only the Minsk agreement, which must be complied with to the last point."

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 17 Jan 2022 - Croatia expects a record number of Russian tourists this year, and last year saw a record volume of commodity trade in the past few years, it was said on Monday at the start of an official visit to Russia by Croatia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman. 

Grlić Radman is on a reciprocal visit to Moscow where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov after Lavrov visited Zagreb in December 2020.

In the morning, Grlić Radman met with representatives of Croatian companies which are members of the Croatian-Russian Business Club.

"The fact that the visit has begun with this segment clearly shows what Croatian-Russian relations mean for the economy," Croatia's Ambassador to Russia, Tomislav Car, said at the meeting attended by representatives of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Croatian Tourist Board, and about a dozen Croatian and Russian companies.

Grlić Radman said that Croatia's exports to Russia had increased by 16.2% in 2020 compared with 2019, amounting to US$201.7 million. Additional growth of about 25% is expected for 2021.

"Our data and statistics regarding the first ten months of 2021 indicate that that will be a year with the greatest commodity trade in the past few years," said Grlić Radman, announcing a Croatian economic forum in several Russian cities this year.

Croatia has a trade deficit with Russia, "which is inevitable with a country rich in energy resources like Russia, not just for us but for almost all the countries in the world," said Grlić Radman.

He expressed his satisfaction that 145,000 Russian tourists had visited Croatia last year and generated 800,000 bed nights.

The director of the Croatian Tourist Board Office in Russia, Rajko Ružička, said that this was because Croatia had opened up to Russian tourists and started issuing visas as early as April "which is something none of the competitors in the European Union did." The key also lies in the fact that Croatia was one of the first to recognize Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, he added.

"This year we expect further growth and I hope that it will be a record year with about 200,000 Russian visitors," said Ružička.

Later in the day, Grlić Radman is scheduled to meet with Lavrov and the Metropolitan Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Hilarion. After that, he is due to attend an informal meeting of the Russian-Croatian Friendship Association.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Thursday called out President Zoran Milanović over his criticism of the government's support for the Council of the EU conclusions on Bosnia and Herzegovina, describing the president's statement as malicious and an attempt to destabilise the government.

"The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs rejects in the strongest terms the malicious insinuations that are detrimental to Croatia's interests, about Croatia's having endorsed conclusions that do not guarantee the rights of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a constituent people," Grlić Radman told a news conference in Zagreb.

In a letter he forwarded to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday, Milanović expressed dissatisfaction with and opposition to the Council of the EU conclusions, adopted on Tuesday, claiming that they do not guarantee rights to Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats as a constituent people in the country.

Grlić Radman today said that the conclusions' making mention of the Dayton Agreement "implies the constitutionality of the three peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The minister described Milanović's criticism as an attempt to destabilise the government.

While earlier conclusions of the Council of the EU, adopted during the terms of previous Croatian governments, made no mention of the constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the part of Tuesday's conclusions concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina and the election reform in that country makes mention, at Croatia's request, of the importance of implementing rulings by the BiH Constitutional Court, which was not envisaged by earlier drafts, the minister said.

Grlić Radman said that the message of the conclusions adopted by the General Affairs Council was unequivocal: it is necessary to eliminate all forms of inequality and discrimination in the election process and implement decisions of Bosnia's Constitutional Court as well as the Sejdić-Finci ruling of the European Court of Human Rights.

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