Defence Minister Ivan Anusic and the MPs of the ruling majority left the meeting of the Defence Committee on Wednesday, arguing that it was pointless to discuss NATO's NSATU mission without the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Tihomir Kundid.

Before the meeting, Anusic told the press that President Zoran Milanovic had not allowed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Tihomir Kundid, to come and explain what the NATO mission “Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine” (NSATU) is about and how Croatia can participate in it.

Deur: The president has usurped his role

“The Chief of Defence Staff, who is the most competent person to provide information about this mission, is not with us. We will convene a new meeting and try to ensure the presence of the Chief of Defence Staff,” said the minister.

Ante Deur from the HDZ party agreed with the minister that General Kundid was crucial for the discussion.

President Milanovic’s office was represented by the President’s Chief of Staff, Orsat Miljenic, and spokesman Nikola Jelic.

Deur said that “by “banning Kundid from attending the meeting, the president usurped his role.”

“These representatives of his office are irrelevant to the discussion,” Deur added, alluding to Miljenic and Jelic.

Miljenic: Anusic left because he was unable to explain the matter

MP Miro Bulj from the Most party, who was also present at the beginning of the session, said that attempts were being made to secretly push the Croatian army into war.

Regarding the departure of Defence Minister Anusic, Miljenic said that Anusic left because he was unable to explain the matter.

“He does not seem to be able to explain the matter without the Chief of Defence Staff,” Miljenic said.

He went on to say that the recent developments were an attempt by the ruling HDZ party to manipulate the role of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and that Milanovic had not and would not allow the politicisation of the Armed Forces.

Miljenic: Ukraine is not our ally

“It is politicians, not soldiers, who make decisions in such matters… A soldier judging whether a deployment is necessary or unnecessary for peace is out of the question,” said Miljenic, describing today’s move by the ruling majority MPs as outrageous.

“Croatia is a loyal (NATO) member and expects its partners to fulfil their obligations. To this end, the President has given his consent to an 80 per cent increase in Croatian troops in NATO border countries. He did this because they are our allies. Ukraine is not our ally. How are we supposed to follow our allies? We are loyal, we are there, for example for Poland, we have done that and we will continue to do that,” said Miljenic, explaining why Milanovic does not support Croatia’s participation in the NSATU mission.

In this context, Miljenic also mentioned the Althea mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and said that NATO had behaved impudently in connection with this mission by not allowing Croatia to join it.