The ruling centre-right HDZ party earlier this week launched talks with the parliamentary opposition to secure the two-thirds majority needed to approve Croatia's participation in the EU mission of military support to Ukraine, which most of the opposition is against, and so far there has been no agreement on the matter.

On Tuesday, calls could be heard for convening a session of the National Security Council to discuss the matter.

Consultations are still under way, Social Democratic Party (SDP) MP Arsen Bauk said, as he was leaving the offices of the HDZ parliamentary group.

As for a reporter’s remark that according to unofficial sources, the parliamentary majority would support the SDP and Green-Left Bloc’s proposal for Croatia’s participation in the civilian segment of the Ukraine mission, Bauk said that he could neither comment on it nor deny it, noting that “they would probably not do it in the form of a conclusion.”

Asked if there was agreement or not, the SDP MP said, “When one says that consultations are under way, that’s the nice way to say that there is still no agreement.”

MP Daniel Spajic (DP party) said that even after the consultations he would not support Croatia’s participation in the training of Ukrainian soldiers.

“Ukraine should be helped in every way possible but not by training Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia, we don’t want to put our country in danger. I think there are more than just one reason why we are unwilling to support such a move, including economic ones,” Spajic added.

Marijan Pavlicek (Croatian Sovereignists) insists on opposition to the government’s proposal, adding that he had tried to persuade his colleagues from the HDZ to change their mind.

“We do not need in our territory any foreign army that is involved in a conflict, we would be jeopardising our own security and we are not and will never be Germany or Poland. We are a country with fewer than four million people, a country whose GDP significantly depends on tourism,” he said.

He added that the Croatian Sovereignists did not care if the government’s motion was in line with the constitution or not but that it cared about the security of Croatian citizens.

“Anyone who supports the arrival of the Ukrainian army (in Croatia) will have to assume responsibility because if an incident or a terrorist attack happen at some moment in the future, they will share the responsibility,” Pavlicek said.

MP proposes VNS session

Sandra Bencic of the Green-Left Bloc insists that the government’s proposal should include non-combat activities and proposes that the president and the prime minister convene the National Security Council (VNS) to agree on the matter.

“Consultations are still under way, no conclusions have been made, we have just stated our positions. We still insist that the substantial proposals be included in the government motion but that the procedure should include the consent of both the president of the state and the prime minister,” she said.

The Social Democrats held consultations with the HDZ on Monday.

The Most party earlier said that it would not participate in negotiations with the ruling party, with MP Nino Raspudic saying that they did not want to be involved “in an unconstitutional procedure.”