President Zoran Milanovic is "manipulating" the "blackmailed opposition" that threatens Croatia's reputation as a "reliable partner" in NATO, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday, continuing the debate on military support for Ukraine, which the president opposes.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Boris Ruge is coming to parliament on Wednesday to explain to MPs exactly what NSATU’s activities are, but the largest opposition party, the SDP, has already announced that it will not attend the session. NSATU stands for NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine and is based in Wiesbaden.

Orban only represents himself, certainly not Croatia or the European Union

Milanovic “is in the position of a blackmailer against the part of the opposition parties that blindly follows these manipulations, misinformation and lies,” Plenkovic told the press after a meeting of the leadership of his HDZ party.

The opposition MPs “make us a member of the alliance, which is not necessarily reliable and which is doing Putin’s policy a favour,” he stressed.

The Prime Minister also spoke about Milanovic’s opposition to the participation of Croatian soldiers in the mission in Wiesbaden, Germany, in connection with the Hungarian Prime Minister’s visit to Georgia.

Viktor Orban, the prime minister of the country currently holding the presidency of the European Union, arrived in Tbilisi on Monday after the ruling pro-Russian Georgian Dream party won Saturday’s elections, according to the state electoral commission.

Plenkovic said Orban was representing “only himself” there, certainly not Croatia or the European Union, as he could only do so if the other members had “explicitly authorised him to do so”.

“If people are not enlightened, there is a risk that Milanovic will be re-elected”

The Hungarians are “exceptions” and the reason why they are doing it is clear – “because of cheap Russian gas and oil”, the prime minister said. But the “real question” is why Milanovic is doing this, because Croatia “has “nothing to gain” from it”.

Plenkovic announced that the government will make a decision on the date for the presidential election, but refused to name the date, adding that “there is a risk that Zoran Milanovic will be re-elected as President of the Republic of Croatia if the people are not enlightened”.

“If the people are not enlightened, there is a risk that some people, provoked by whatever, will elect someone as president of the country who does not congratulate the day the state was founded,” Plenkovic told the press.

He believes that Milanovic is playing with Croatian democracy and projecting all his mistakes and weaknesses onto others. “This man (Milanovic) has a serious problem,” he said.