Ukraine's path to NATO membership will take some time because the alliance is not united on the matter, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Sunday.

“If Ukraine were in NATO, what is happening today probably wouldn’t be happening,” he told the press in Jasenovac.

Ukraine’s path to NATO membership “will take some more time” because it requires the consensus of all the member states, and an “accelerated procedure” is not possible for any organisation, Plenkovic said.

“The position of the entire alliance, including Croatia, is the one that sticks to the open door policy and meets the criteria.”

There are different opinions on this issue within NATO at the moment, he said.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Kyiv on Thursday that Ukraine belonged in NATO and invited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to NATO’s July summit in Vilnius.
Stoltenberg’s statements were not welcomed in Russia, nor in NATO-member Hungary.

Plenkovic said Croatia’s position on Ukraine was clear. “Croatia strongly supports it as a victim of Russian aggression, which is in its 15th month. We were among those who strongly pushed for awarding Ukraine candidate status for European Union membership.”