Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman on Saturday attended a summit meeting of the Grain from Ukraine programme, saying that Croatia was committed to that initiative and to cooperation in the fight against food weaponisation.

The meeting, held via video link, was an opportunity to remember the Holodomor and recall the fact that food is still used as a weapon, notably in the context of remembering the victims of the Great Ukrainian Famine and the 90th anniversary of that disaster, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Croatia is committed to supporting the Grain from Ukraine initiative. It is a valuable contribution to the global food security response in our common efforts to find appropriate solutions to this crisis. Croatia strongly supports the Ukrainian Peace Formula, to which it has contributed in several points, including food security, Grlic Radman said at the meeting.

He expressed satisfaction that Croatia has contributed, through the Solidarity Lanes, an action plan launched by the European Commission in May 2022, to the transport of not only agricultural but all the other types of products between Ukraine and the rest of the world.

Croatia also cooperates in the fight against food weaponising, the minister said.

Grlic Radman underlined the importance of recognising the Holodomor as the crime of genocide, recalling that the Croatian Parliament, joining in an initiative of numerous countries and the European Parliament, on 28 June 2023 unanimously recognised the Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people, adopting a declaration condemning that tragic historical event.

The Holodomor, the genocide against Ukraine in the period from 1932 to 1933, remains a powerful reminder of the importance of the fight against the misuse of food for political purposes, Grlić Radman said, expressing hope that the Grain from Ukraine initiative would become an even stronger symbol of solidarity among nations.