"This is a catastrophe. I will be the first to fight to prevent this from happening to Hungary," Zoran Milanovic said.Continue reading
Croatian President and former prime minister, Zoran Milanovic, spoke to Index.hr claiming that the EU treats Croatia impermissibly, citing the “scandalous letter” from the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, to Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman as an example.
Milanovic said that he did not want to talk about this topic earlier in order not to jeopardize Croatia’s entry into the Schengen zone, which he is not enthusiastic about for that matter. However, in his view, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, sent a “scandalous, rude, lying, manipulative, inaccurate” response to Grlic Radman. “They treat us like losers, like deaf-blind fools,” said Milanovic.
Josep Borrell. Photo: ec.europa.eu
In the Croatian President’s opinion, Borrell “invents Security Council resolutions and decisions of the European Councils” to prevent Croatia from participating in Althea, the European Union military peacekeeping Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR). More than a thousand soldiers from twenty countries are participating in the Althea mission, but not Croatia, whose participation is opposed by Bosniak politicians and some European countries. Milanovic added that the Croatian problem is not Bakhmut (contested city in Ukraine, ed.), but the issue of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In his statement, he also touched on the arrest of the vice-president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili. Kaili was arrested as part of a Belgian public prosecutor’s investigation involving an alleged criminal organization, an attempted influence peddling of a Gulf state, and allegations of corruption and money laundering. Milanovic asked for “clear explanations” for whom she lobbied for, and emphasized that a large number of other representatives could have been involved.
Speaking about European funds, Milanovic said that the EU is flooding countries with “money that does not exist” and that Croatia is “collaterally lucky” because it received mere “crumbs from the table” as part of a plan intended for larger countries, such as Italy. Regarding the leadership of the European Union, he said that they came to office on the basis of “political guesswork” and that, as leaders who were not elected by anyone, they do not have a democratic mandate. “Who chose Von der Leyen?” he asked about the head of the EU Commission.
In his opinion, this is extremely “undemocratic,” but he is “ready to live under it” and to a certain extent “respect it until it gets out of control,” that is, until the European leadership declares itself “masters of everything.” “I recognize a lie better than a neurosurgeon when the EU starts lying,” he said, adding that he differs from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but that he would defend him because “colorless bureaucrats terrorize Member States.”
Via Index.hr, Featured Photo: Facebook Zoran Milanovic