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‘Horrible stunt’: Croatian president lambasts giving Ukraine EU candidate status

"This is an American war, fought on the backs of Ukrainians, but with American money," Zoran Milanovic believes

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic AP Photo/Darko Bandic

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic

© AP Photo/Darko Bandic

BELGRADE, December 20. /TASS/. Ukraine is not the EU’s ally and it is ridiculous to provide it with EU membership candidate status, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said, speaking at a ceremony in Zagreb, dedicated to the anniversary of the Tudjman Croatian Military Academy.

"Ukraine is not an ally, but they are trying to make an ally out of them. It is laughably being presented with EU membership candidate status, a horrible stunt. Poor Bosnia and Herzegovina had to wait, a horrible humiliation. This is the European Union of today, a calamity, nil," the Croatian President said, according to the Jutarnij List.

Milanovic believes that the conflict in Ukraine "was inevitable."

"The entire Western and American philosophy of war […] - is to attack someone much weaker and drink its blood, batter them, destroy their country," he said, claiming that Russia and the US went into this conflict deliberately.

"This is an American war, fought on the backs of Ukrainians, but with American money," the Croatian President believes.

Milanovic also stated the catastrophic state of Croatia’s combat readiness, pointing out that the republic is being forced to give all its weapons to Ukraine.

"And who will defend us? The Americans? Like how they defend Ukraine? […] I am concerned about the combat readiness of the infantry in case of a crisis, because the infantry is everything," the President underscored.

Earlier, the Croatian parliament did not support the government’s proposal to provide the Ukrainian military with the opportunity to train in the republic. Milanovic also spoke against training Ukrainian servicemen on Croatian territory. He is convinced that the training of Ukrainian servicemen in several EU countries poses dangerous consequences.

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