Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman said on Thursday that the "only stain" on Croatia's foreign policy is that 54 MPs, whom he called cowards and fifth-columnists, were opposed to the military aid mission to Ukraine.

Boasting to reporters after a cabinet meeting about Croatia’s successes this year, such as entering the Schengen and euro areas, Grlic-Radman harshly condemned the MPs who were opposed to the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia.

“The thing that we record as a stain… on Croatia’s foreign policy are the 54 MPs who did not support the military aid mission to Ukraine. This is a big political embarrassment, a big shame,” the minister told reporters.

“With that act, they contributed to great damage, political damage and a worse reputation of Croatia in the world,” he asserted.

The main stumbling block between the majority and the opposition was the training of Ukrainian soldiers on Croatian territory.

When asked about the fact that a part of the opposition offered support for the training of Ukrainian soldiers, but not on Croatian soil, he responded: “What kind of support is that?”

“Don’t forget that Croatian soldiers were also trained by others. This is a benign situation that, unfortunately, MPs did not understand,” said Grlic-Radman when asked whether the ruling majority made a mistake when it did not seek a compromise with the opposition, especially when it comes to the training of the Ukrainian army on Croatian territory because numerous EU member states will not train Ukrainian soldiers on their soil either.

When asked how many EU member states accepted military aid to Ukraine without training combat forces on their territory, the minister did not give a precise answer. He said no country disputed that issue except for “these 54 MPs.”

“Tell me whether these 54 MPs are such experts that they can distinguish between combat and non-combat or something that would endanger Croatian security.”  He accused them of not being able to rise above party politics or of wanting to defame the government.

Grlic-Radman described their actions as a political subversion and said they were political cowards who would carry a permanent stigma, reiterating that this was the fifth-column syndrome in Croatian society.