By keeping its ambassador in Ukraine, Croatia has shown its solidarity, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman said on Monday, adding that about 30 to 50 Croatian citizens may still be in Ukraine whereas prior to the aggression there were 114.

“By keeping the ambassador, Croatia has shown solidarity and it recalls that it, too, was grateful to every country that recognised it and had empathy, with Ukraine being the first UN country to recognise Croatia’s independence,” Grlić Radman said during a cabinet meeting.

The ministry is continually monitoring developments, the ministry and the ambassador are in constant contact with Croatian citizens who are accessible, the minister underscored.

According to the latest information, most of the Croatian citizens in Ukraine are located in Kyiv while some are in Poltava and Lviv.

“We have their phone numbers, addresses, and they have been accessible, however, their number is constantly changing considering that some of them manage to cross the border to the EU. We are in contact 24 hours a day if any problem occurs,” the minister said.

Helping other nationals along with Croatians

A task force set up by the ministry will contact everyone on the list and determine their exact location. Croatian embassies in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have been contacted to help our citizens and their Ukrainian relatives cross the border, he said.

Grlić Radman said that the ministry has contacted crisis centres in the foreign ministries of countries like Germany, France, Italy, Romania and Greece to obtain information about any possible evacuation plans they are carrying out or plan to carry out in Ukraine.

He commended Croatia’s embassies, saying that when they manage to arrange for Croatians to leave Ukraine, often citizens of other countries are included, and “we are being commended for that.”

Opening the cabinet meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Croatia’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Anica Djamić, would remain in Ukraine as long as necessary to be at the service of Croatian citizens but also to send a strong political message to Ukraine that Croatia is among the seven remaining EU member states that still have their ambassadors in Kyiv.