President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday that countries that look after their own interests have an indisputable right to have the last word on their steps. He emphasised that no one can and will deny Croatia this right.

“Countries that think of themselves and look after their interests have the indisputable and unquestionable right to have the last word on their steps, to decide and be asked what they will do in certain situations and how they will do it. No one can and will deny Croatia this right, it retains this right unconditionally, whether you call it sovereignism or common sense,” Milanovic said at the Franjo Tudjman Military Academy.

“Small countries are always dependent on others to a certain extent”

He recalled the statement of the Croatian politician Stjepan Radic from the early 20th century “When the big ones fight, the small ones go under the table”. The ruling HDZ took the opportunity to mock Milanovic for a misquote because it was not Stjepan Radic who said this, but Vladko Macek, deputy prime minister in the Yugoslav government from 1939 to 1941.

“It’s clear what he meant by that. Of course they do not go under the table, that’s what drunks and cowards do. They move away from the table and watch what happens,” said Milanovic, who attended a ceremony at which officers were promoted to rank and 21 cadets were inducted into active military service.

Politically and in terms of security policy, small countries are always dependent on others to a certain extent. They are dependent on the alliances they enter into, on the commitments they make, on how rationally and prudently they assess their capabilities and obligations, said Milanovic.

“So Croatia has chosen NATO,” he said.

The reintroduction of compulsory military service must not be a political and party-political issue

“This is good and this is the only way forward for Croatia. But we must be vigilant and constantly ask questions – without losing the human and allied loyalty that must be a constant, we must constantly monitor developments around us,” he emphasised.

Regarding the Croatian Army’s equipment, the President warned: “We are part of a world and an alliance where equipment is incredibly expensive and we have to rely on a very limited number of suppliers because we do not have our own. Even if we cannot afford everything we would like to have, we must be prudent and think carefully before we make a decision, because these are long-term decisions,” he said.

He warned that the average age of the Croatian reserve forces is 50. “Without reserve forces, the Rafales and Leopards and everything else make much less sense,” he said.

He pointed out that there was still a lot of work to be done to equip the navy according to the country’s needs.

The President also pointed out that the reintroduction of conscription cannot be a political and partisan issue because it is about the next 20 years. “Without it, we will not have the land army we need,” he warned.