Most of the parliamentary opposition is in principle against sending Croatian troops to Ukraine in case the conflicts there escalate, and if such a request comes from NATO, parliamentary groups will have to consult on the matter, it was said on Thursday.

Social Democratic Party MP Sabina Glasovac said today she believed that the parliament would not even have the opportunity to state its position on the matter.

“Considering the developments of the past few days, negotiations are likely, which eventually means that we will be fortunate enough to avoid the worst-case scenario, so I believe there will be no vote on the matter in the parliament,” she said.

Domagoj Hajdukovic of the Social Democrats was of a similar view, noting that the topic was not on the agenda.

“Ukraine is not a NATO member, we have no obligations towards it,” he added.

Sandra Bencic of the Green-Left Bloc said her group would vote against sending Croatian troops.

“I think that two branches of government in Croatia cannot have different views on this issue, that is unacceptable in the current situation because this issue is not of small importance, it concerns potential escalation of a conflict in our relative vicinity that can have far-reaching global consequences. Croatia must have a unanimous view,” she said in reference to the different views of President Zoran Milanovic and the government on the matter.

Bencic added that Croatia’s role in NATO should focus much more on providing capacity for conflict prevention, diplomacy, post-conflict peace and community-building, which, she added, Croatia had not been very fortunate with, considering the capacity of its foreign ministers.

Nikola Grmoja of the Most party said his group would make a decision when the time for that came.

“… we’ll see what happens with this crisis. I don’t think that being a small country, Croatia should get involved, neither what (President Zoran) Milanovic is doing nor what (PM Andrej) Plenkovic did regarding Crimea and Ukraine is good, we should not be the ones to set the dynamic of a major world conflict. Let us wait a bit, the West and the USA are our strategic partners but we are not the ones to set the pace of these conflicts or make big statements like Plenkovic and Milanovic,” said Grmoja.

Stephen Nikola Bartulica of the Homeland Movement said that Croatian soldiers should not be deployed in Ukraine but that his group would have to consult on the matter if the parliament found itself in a situation to vote on it.

“We understand Ukraine and support its right to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty, just as we did, but we are not in favour of sending Croatian troops there.”

Independent MP Hrvoje Zekanovic said he did not want Croatian soldiers to get killed but noted that Croatia is a NATO member and has obligations.

“If NATO decides that soldiers should be sent to Ukraine, we have to respect it as a member. Croatia chose its allies, in 2009 we entered NATO, we are an EU member but our president has evidently forgotten that. Croats are not cowards and do not break their word easily,” said Zekanovic.