Croatia will participate in the training of Ukrainian soldiers as part of an EU mission, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday, criticising President Zoran Milanovic and his supporters for opposing the idea.

Plenkovic noted that Croatian soldiers were also trained by foreign instructors during the 1991-95 war in Croatia.

Croatia, by decisions of its government, has been willingly supporting Ukraine for months — politically, diplomatically, financially, economically. and by sending humanitarian and military aid, Plenkovic said in his opening remarks at a cabinet meeting.

“If any of these boycotters, critics and pro-Russian politicians in Croatia has forgotten that, it would be good for them to become aware of it,” he said.

On Tuesday, President Milanovic said he did not support the idea of Ukrainian troops being trained on Croatian soil, claiming that would mean Croatia was getting involved in the war in Ukraine more than it was necessary. He announced he was prepared to veto the decision.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Plenkovic said he was appalled by that reaction and even more by the reactions of Milanovic’s supporters in the parliament, saying they were “revealing their pro-Russian views.”

Plenkovic said the EU was establishing a military assistance mission for Ukraine.

“Together with 20 other EU foreign ministers, (Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman) expressed Croatia’s general readiness to participate in the training of Ukrainian soldiers. Twelve countries, including Croatia, have said they were ready for such training to take place on their territory,” Plenkovic said.

“This does not mean that Croatia is entering the war, nor that the war is coming to Croatia. This is Croatia’s policy within wider EU activities through the assistance mission,” the prime minister said, noting that Croatian soldiers, too, had been trained by foreign instructors during the 1991-1995 war.

Plenkovic did not say what he would do in the case Milanovic does veto the proposal, because such a decision requires two-thirds’ support in Parliament.