Participating in the Raisina Dialogue 2023 conference in New Delhi, focusing on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said that by helping Ukraine the world was defending its own security.

“The security of Central and Eastern Europe is an integral part of the European Union’s security architecture and of the broader rules-based international order. From the European perspective, opposition to the Russian aggression includes support to freedom and democracy in Ukraine but it also constitutes the defence of the European as well as the global security architecture. The Russian aggression has resulted in many other threats such as inflation and disruptions in energy and food supply. There is no doubt that by helping Ukraine we are defending our own security,” the minister said at a panel debate on Friday, according to a press release from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

Noting that Croatia fully understands what an unprovoked aggression and the use of force mean, Grlic Radman said that Croatia has been helping Ukraine economically, diplomatically and by sharing its experience regarding the war and post-war recovery, demining and confidence-building.

The importance of preserving democratic values in the EU’s neighbourhood through the European integration process has never been clearer. The values that people in those societies aspire to are a cornerstone of our common resilience, he said.

The Croatian minister also held a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who visited Croatia in September 2022.

The two ministers signed a memorandum on defence cooperation and discussed ways to strengthen the two countries’ economic ties, with Minister Grlic Radman pointing to Croatia’s growing attractiveness as a member of the EU’s Schengen area of passport-free movement and the euro area, and its favourable geographic position between Central and Southeastern Europe.