Presidential candidate Dragan Primorac said on Sunday in the coastal city of Zadar that incumbent President Zoran Milanovic is telling untruths and causing unrest and division among the people when he says that Croatian soldiers are to be sent to Ukraine as part of a NATO mission.

When a government document emerged stating that there was no possibility of sending Croatian soldiers to Ukraine, even though there have been NATO missions there since 1994, it became clear that Milanovic was telling an untruth. “I realised that he was right when he said: ‘I have never said that I am an honest politician'”, Primorac said at a press conference before a meeting of the Zadar county and city committees of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, which supports his candidacy.

He said he had never asked the military to disrespect Milanovic as Commander in Chief of the Croatian armed forces, but “to “always and in every situation tell the truth”

“I want everyone in Croatia, including army officers, to tell the truth without fear. It is the general duty of everyone in Croatia to tell the truth, including the officers of the Croatian Armed Forces. Milanovic was caught telling the untruth and deeply dividing Croatian citizens. If anyone should be honourable and tell the truth, it is the President of the Republic,” said Primorac.