ZAGREB, 18 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Wednesday that he would instruct Croatia's Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Mario Nobilo, to vote against the admission of Finland and Sweden to the alliance until the election law in BiH is amended.

Milanović believes that Croatia should not cease making Finland's and Sweden's membership of NATO conditional on the issue of the equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats in elections.

"That is not an act against Finland and Sweden but it is for Croatia," Milanović insists.

Addressing a news conference in his office, Milanović said that he believed that Croats in BiH as a political entity, are being "destroyed" and that it is in Croatia's national interest to prevent that.

He underscored that he would instruct Ambassador Nobilo to be against that membership.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs last week said that in that case, Nobilo would follow the instructions of the ministry rather than the president's.

Milanović said today that Turkey, which is opposed to the two Nordic countries joining the Alliance, is showing how to fight for national interests.

"Turkey certainly will not move away from the table before it gets what it wants," said Milanović.

He believes Croatia is acting quite the opposite.

"How are we fighting for our interests?" he wondered, adding that after all the peace missions in BiH, there is not one Croatian officer there.

"Why? Because they will not allow that. Not one uniformed Croatian can step  in here."

He said that he had called for a meeting of the National Security Council because of the problem of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but that he had not received a response from the government.

"The government does not have a monopoly on foreign policy," he said.

"We can talk about Ukraine, but that is not a burning problem for us. This is," he said.

He called on the parliament not to ratify the agreement on the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. "I will talk about this until the last moment and warn that the Sabor has the last word."

He is convinced that that would turn the international community's attention to Croatian interests and that is the only way for Croatia to resolve this "serious problem in BiH."

If the Sabor doesn't ratify it "at that moment unbelievable interest for Croatia's problem would arise," he said.

He added that he wants to avoid any possible reaction by Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats to an unfair election law and consequently proclaim a Croat self-government in BiH.

"I want Croatian interests in BiH to be modified within the framework of the Dayton (Peace Accords)."

He rejected the prime minister and foreign minister's criticism that he was damaging Croatia's reputation.

"If I am to be blamed I am prepared to be. I have said that Croats in BiH are more important to me than the entire Russian-Finish border," Milanović underscored.

"Let's look at what Turkey is doing," he added.

"It certainly will not go empty-handed yet it is seeking a lot. While we are seeking very little in BiH, a country for which we are guarantors in the Dayton (Accord)."

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Monday that the Constitutional Court's ruling on the Bridge party's two referendum questions was "trampling on the Constitution and an act of a coup d'etat!".

Earlier on Monday, the Constitutional Court concluded that the questions in the two referendum petitions launched by the opposition Bridge party - to abolish mandatory COVID passes and transfer the powers of the national COVID response team to Parliament - failed the test of constitutionality. 

"What these ten judges did today is a coup d'etat. That court needs to be abolished by a referendum so they can see what the will of the people means when 400,000 people consciously sign a petition. They dared check the mental state and sobriety of 400,000 Croatian citizens who clearly called for amendments to the Constitution," President Milanović said in the town Petrinja.

Milanović recalled that former President Ivo Josipović gathered constitutional experts in 2015 to recommend changes to the Constitution and that one of them was that the notion of epidemic should be entered into the Constitution.

The current president added that today that issue is no longer relevant because the epidemic has passed.

"The Constitutional Court does not have the right to question the constitutionality of the question to amend the Constitution if conditions stipulated by Articles 86 and 87, paragraph 3 are met regarding the number of signatures. That has been met! The Constitutional Court needs to be informed of that. Anyone who requests the opinion is violating the Constitution and that is the parliament belonging to the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) ," said Milanović.

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - The leaders of three Croat parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Monday supported President Zoran Milanović's policy considering the issues burdening Croats in that country, including his idea to block Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO unless the election law in BiH is amended.

Earlier on Monday Milanović called on representatives of Croats in BiH to clearly state if they agree with his policy so that he can continue pursuing it.

"I support President Milanović's policy and call on institutions in Croatia to help in finding a solution to the Croat issue in BiH and to take all the necessary steps, regardless of how difficult they may be," the leader of the HDZ 1990, Ilija Cvitanović told the Bild.ba web news portal.

He added that this was a 'historic moment' for Croats in BiH and that it has to be utilized.

The leader of HSS BiH, Mario Karamatić posted on Facebook that he can see "the point, interest and advantage' in what Milanović is doing and asked that he continued doing so.

"Mr. President, please do not give up from us too, like many others who have done so for whatever reason," Karamatić wrote.

Leader of the Republican Party Slaven Raguž said that "over the past 15 days, Zoran Milanović has done more to internationalize the Croat issue in BiH than HDZ has in the past 20 years."

Milanović has been repeating for days that Croatia should block Finland and Sweden's accession to the alliance until the election law in BiH is amended in an attempt to prevent the more numerous Bosniaks to outvote Croats in that country at the October election.

However, Croatia's Prime Minister and leader of the HDZ, Andrej Plenković, has accused Milanović's rhetoric saying that it has damaged attempts for an agreement to be reached over the election reform.

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ZAGREB, 13 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović, who is the Supreme Commander of the Croatian Armed Forces, said in Petrinja on Friday that during the 1991-1995 Homeland War Croatia had not been liberated by an international coalition but "was successfully defended by its own forces."

Addressing an oath-taking ceremony for members of the 2nd Mechanised Battalion, President  Milanović told them that their predecessors "first defended and then liberated the country with very limited quantities of weapons." 

Milanović added that "the Croatian Army did not have foreign help at the time and Croatia was defended by its own forces, their heroism, ingenuity, cunning and courage."

"Croatia was not liberated by an international coalition. Croatia was liberated exclusively by Croatian forces relying solely on their own abilities – by Croatian sons and daughters, who joined forces with our brothers from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"The siege of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina was not lifted by American and British planes, but by the Croatian Army and Croatian brigades – not by allied bombs, but by the Croatian Army at the entrance to Banja Luka," he said referring to the developments as a result of the 1995 Operation Storm.

"Only then was the siege of Sarajevo lifted and negotiations on the Dayton Accords began. These are very important things. There are still many witnesses. This will not be easily forgotten," he said.

Noting that "small nations cannot fight big battles," Milanović said that "when the big ones fight, the little ones move away and look after their own interests."

"We don’t have thousands of tanks, we won’t have them and we don’t need them. We must manage smartly, responsibly and cunningly what we have."

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ZAGREB, 13 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović on Friday accused Finland of ignoring Croatian interests for years and reiterated that he would continue fighting for the rights of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina because he considers that an exceptionally good security reason for Croatia.

Milanović was responding to a question from a Nova TV reporter to comment on the statement by Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, who had allegedly said that Finland was shocked by the president's statements.

"Welcome to the club, mister foreign minister. We have been shocked for several years already by your ignorance and rudeness," said Milanović in response, noting: "If he really said that."

Milanović added that two days ago, the state secretary of the Finnish ministry of foreign affairs spoke with the associates in his office and that he "didn't say that" then.

In his yesterday's statement to Nova TV, Haavisto didn't mention being "shocked" but he said that he hoped for Croatian solidarity and assistance in their bid to join NATO.

We find it a bit strange that our NATO membership is being connected to something we cannot influence, he said.

Milanović's support for Finland and Sweden's aspirations is conditional on a reform of the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We are shocked that they haven't given a damn about us for years. We are shocked that they are treating us as if we were a member of the Arab League, with all due respect, and not a NATO and EU member. We are shocked that we are obstructed every time we put this topic on the agenda and try to turn our attention to it. I am shocked by the behaviour of the Croatian government and Plenković's part of the HDZ," the Croatian president said.

Milanović stressed that he wouldn't give up fighting for the rights of Croats in the neighbouring country. "I have no choice. I must fight for the basic rights of Croats in BiH peacefully. There is no other option," he said.

Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Friday that it wouldn't be wise to block Finland and Sweden on their NATO path and that that would mean working to the benefit of Russia, and Milanović told him "it isn't a matter of wisdom but a matter of national interest."

Finland's state leadership said on Thursday that Finland had to submit a membership application to NATO "without delay," which is a big turnabout in its policy, prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"What joining NATO means to Finland at this moment, is what Bosnia and Herzegovina means to us. The difference is in the fact that we have been saying this for several years," said Milanović, dismissing claims that he was catering to Russia.

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ZAGREB, 11 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Wednesday that justice and morality in the case of Mirela Čavajda were on her side and as a general rule, the state was the one that should ensure assistance for women so that the situation in which all gynaecologists refused to perform abortions would not occur.

Čavajda is a 39-year-old who has requested a pregnancy termination because the fetus has been diagnosed with massive brain cancer six months into her pregnancy. She recently told the Index web portal that all the hospitals in Zagreb she contacted had refused to do a termination of pregnancy despite the fact that doctors had told her that the tumour was so big the child most likely would not live long, and even if it did, it would never have a normal life.

Her complaint against the hospitals' decision is to be discussed by a second-instance commission at the KBC Zagreb Hospital, whose expert commission, formed last week at the request of Health Minister Vili Beroš, was of the view that the child has a chance to live and that neurosurgical treatment is possible if the delivery goes well.

Speaking to reporters after attending the opening of the 15th Job Fair in Zagreb, Milanović warned, in the context of the Čavajda case, that most gynaecologists in hospitals in Zagreb refuse to perform abortions, noting that "the state should step in."

"In the past five years the state should have stepped in to say - all right, certain procedures will be ensured, under certain conditions, and women meeting those conditions will have access to those procedures and a certain kind of protection. When we say that women should have the right to choose - that is indeed so, but the law has always set certain limits. We are talking about a woman's choice up to a certain week of pregnancy, after which things get more complicated. That is the case in the entire world," he said.

"In my opinion, justice and morality are on the side of this lady," he said, warning about the problem of manipulation of conscientious objection.

"There are certain procedures, but they are evidently manipulated. That is why I am saying that in the case of (Zagreb's) Sveti Duh Hospital, where there are no gynaecologists (willing to perform abortions) - some of them I know personally and for some I know for sure that they are not conscientious objectors but are opportunists - the state, the ministry should step in and make sure assistance is provided to women," he said, stressing that he was not talking about a specific case but in general.

"It cannot happen that tomorrow we do not have a single gynaecologist in public hospitals in Zagreb that is not a conscientious objector," he said.

Noting that the older he was, the more delicate the topic of abortion was for him, Milanović said that what he did know for sure was that nobody can be a victim of the system just because no gynaecologist in public hospitals is willing to perform abortions while the state fails to do anything in that regard.

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ZAGREB, 4 May 2022 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Wednesday in Madrid that President Zoran Milanović's opposition to Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO was a blow to the unity of democratic West against Russia's aggression on Ukraine and that he had pro-Russian stances.

Jandroković was on an official visit to Madrid at the invitation of the President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain, Meritxell Batet Lamaña. 

"Being opposed today to Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO is a blow to the solidarity and alliance of the entire democratic Western world against what Russia is doing in Ukraine. That is undoubtedly a pro-Russian stance," Jandroković said.

He added that he doesn't know why that is so and that the President should be asked about that.

"But it is without a doubt that the international community is surprised by his stance and since recently has been ridiculing him," said Jandroković.

Jandroković was heading a parliamentary delegation attending a Croatian-Spanish inter-parliamentary forum in Madrid.

Speaking about Croatian-Spanish relations, he said the two countries have "deepened parliamentary cooperation."

During the forum there was talk about bilateral cooperation, however, the focus was on global issues, such as the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, he said.

"We share the same stances about the war in Ukraine and are strongly supporting Ukraine and condemning the Russian aggression," said Jandroković.

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ZAGREB, 4 May 2022 - Croatian President Zoran Milanović will not be able to veto Finland's and Sweden's accession to NATO because this will be decided by the ambassadors of the member states and not by the heads of state or government, the Jutarnji List (JL) daily wrote on Wednesday.

Citing government sources knowledgeable about NATO procedures, the newspaper said that Milanović is aware that he will not be in a position to veto the two countries' membership bids because this decision will be made by the North Atlantic Council, which consists of ambassadors from the 28 member states.

Milanović is obviously aware of this because he has said that, in the event that the invitation is extended at a lower level, he might not be able to force the Croatian ambassador to take his position at the Council, Jutarnji List said.

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ZAGREB, 1 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Sunday that "we are not in a normal situation, Croatia and Europe are at a crossroads," adding that he is "sorry for Croatia" and that he will "fight with all my might" not to give room to the ruling HDZ party to destroy Croatia.

Speaking to the press in Varaždin, where he celebrated International Workers' Day, Milanović reiterated that the HDZ was a "gang."

"I watch what I say. Not everything will be nice, but 90% of the things I say have been considered beforehand," he said, adding that he does not have political instruments. "I don't have... the parliamentary majority, which I didn't steal like (HDZ leader and PM Andrej) Plenković. Therefore I have to say certain things."

The president also commented on Serb National Council president and MP Milorad Pupovac's statement that Milanović was a jug that would soon break.

"He is totally insignificant, a profiteer. People voted for me... Nobody votes for him," he said, adding that Pupovac "steals from the state budget."

He criticised Pupovac for saying in parliament that the 1995 Operation Storm was ethnic cleansing, asking him to explain that to the 7th Guard Brigade's Varaždin defenders.

"They were liberating that area not from Serbs but from a military enemy and they have not one crime behind them," Milanović said. "He's not a Serb, he's a common petty thief."

International Workers' Day

Celebrating International Workers' Day with the people of Varaždin, the president said "it's more difficult to be a unionist than ever" because "employers are dispersed on many more positions."

"A worker is someone who lives off their pay," he said, adding that inflation affects such people the most, not just in Croatia.

This situation has much less to do with workers' rights and much more with geopolitics and the systemic global policy "which is devouring us at the moment," Milanović said.

He explained that he decided to celebrate International Workers' Day in Varaždin because that northern city "has had the biggest May Day celebration in Croatia for 30 years already."

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ZAGREB, 27 Apr 2022 - President Zoran Milanović's statement that the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO should be blocked will not change the good relations between Croatia and Finland, Finnish Ambassador to Zagreb, Kalle Kankaanpää, told Hina on Wednesday.

"I don't think anything will change in relations between Croatia and Finland", the diplomat said, adding that bilateral relations have always been good at all levels.

"I have been here as ambassador for more than a year. I closely follow politics in this country and am familiar with the way politics are run in Croatia", the Finnish ambassador said.

Kankaanpää explained that on Tuesday his minister of foreign affairs, Pekka Haavisto, had a good conversation with his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlić Radman, and that he himself had contacts with representatives of the parliament and government.

In Finland, an active discussion is ongoing on whether the country should join NATO or not, a final decision can be expected in May, the ambassador said.

On Tuesday, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said that Finland and Sweden could not join NATO before the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina was changed.

The Croatian parliament "must not ratify anyone's accession to NATO" until Bosnia and Herzegovina changes its election law, he told the press. The accession of Finland and Sweden can be discussed, but it is "a very dangerous adventure," Milanović added.

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