Defence Minister Ivan Anusic said in Osijek on Saturday that his remarks involving Hungary did not provoke a diplomatic incident, asserting that it was instead the Hungarian side, specifically politicians and officials whom he referenced, that caused a diplomatic incident.

Speaking to journalists, Anusic recalled that Croatian diplomats previously sought talks with Hungarian officials to understand why they were publishing maps of the so-called “Greater Hungary,” which include Croatian regions like Baranja, Medjimurje, and parts of the Adriatic coast.

“If I referenced what they have already said a hundred times, and continue to communicate even today, then we must ask ourselves whether we’re truly safeguarding this country when I’m being questioned for allegedly causing a diplomatic incident,” he said.

Anusic maintained that he merely highlighted a diplomatic incident initially caused by Hungary, reiterating his opposition to claims that parts of Croatia fall within the political aspirations of “the so-called Greater Hungary.”

I won’t bury my head in the sand

He pointed out that when he served as the Osijek-Baranja County prefect, he worked with all national minorities, including the Hungarian, and that investments from Hungary were never blocked, with the Hungarian side always finding an interlocutor in him, a role he will continue.

“I won’t bury my head in the sand. I communicate clearly, seriously, and openly, and these are politically and strategically significant matters for Croatia’s future,” Anusic said.

Yesterday, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned the Croatian ambassador in Budapest to discuss Anusic’s recent comments.

Hungarian media cited Anusic’s statements to the Croatian parliamentary Defence Committee, when he said that Croatia’s absence from NATO’s NSATU mission for Ukraine would place it in a position similar to Hungary, and another in parliament, when he said that “Serbia and Hungary openly support Putin.”

During a recent parliamentary debate, Anusic said Hungary’s policies in the Baranja region and Osijek-Baranja County challenge the territorial integrity of Croatia.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said yesterday that Hungary seeks the best possible relations with all neighbouring countries, including Croatia, making it “unexpected that the Croatian defense minister has chosen… to insult Hungarians.”

Milanovic can’t order Ruge not to come, so he orders SDP MPs

Anusic said NATO’s deputy leader Boris Ruge will appear before the parliamentary Defence Committee on Wednesday to explain to MPs and the public the purpose of the NSATU mission and its significance for both Croatia and NATO, after Chief of the General Staff General Tihomir Kundid was prohibited from doing so.

In response to a journalist’s remark that the opposition announced it would boycott the committee session, Anušić compared this to President Zoran Milanovic’s ban preventing Kundid from briefing the committee on the mission.

Now that Milanovic cannot prevent Ruge from attending, he is issuing orders to SDP and other opposition MPs, telling them to skip the session, he said.