President Milanović Comments on Situation in Afghanistan
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović visited Barban and prior to the 46th “Prstenac Race” tournament (The Ring Race), he commented on the situation in Afghanistan. “This is not a strategy mistake, but one of planning and execution. It’s been known for quite some time that (the United States) was leaving Afghanistan, Biden inherited what Trump left, and he too was in favour of withdrawing”, President Milanović said.
He recalled that Croatia withdrew from Afghanistan over a year ago. “In my election campaign I said that as Commander in Chief I would do so, the Government did not object. It was clear that this had to be ended. I had the privilege of being one of those at the farewell ceremony for our soldiers in 2003 and ultimately the one who decided not to prolong Croatia’s involvement in Afghanistan any longer,” President Milanović said.
He underlined that given that no state, community and nation can survive in circumstances in which people are not willing to make sacrifices, one should exclusively view the current situation in Afghanistan and value things through the prism of how many lives were saved or lost. “Had they fought for one year, perhaps tens of thousands of people would have perished, but in this way it all collapsed. This will be a stain on someone’s conscience, or rather on someone’s reputation, vanity. However, the fewer people die, the better. Regarding democracy in Afghanistan and in many other countries, nothing of the kind”, President Milanović stated, adding that we must realize that the kind of life we are living functions differently in many other states. “We’re not preachers who should go there with fire and sword. On the one hand, it was a mistake, and on the other hand, it was a good thing that our army was present there, and a number of people learned something, but this should not be repeated”, the President noted.
Asked if Croatia should receive Afghan refugees, President Milanović said that in his opinion refugees should go to the biggest countries. “All of them should find their place in the United States. We can symbolically receive a small number of people. It’s no longer 2015, things have changed. At that time I behaved in a certain way, today I would behave in another way, but there is no longer such crisis. I would always accept a small number of people. That’s why I don’t understand and cannot accept when someone says that we should accept no one. We should always demonstrate humaneness, but also have our interests in mind. I’m not one to say we can’t, but there are limits. Our border isn’t too extensible, that’s why I would receive around twenty people,” President Milanović said.