President Milanović to the Government: Leave General Kundid alone – if you have a problem with me, talk to me
“Leave General Kundid alone – if you have a problem with me, talk to me. The military operates on the basis of orders. A soldier knows what he is allowed to do and how he must behave in any given situation. A soldier carries out orders. When it comes to commanding the military, there is a Commander in Chief and there is a Chief of the General Staff. When it comes to orders, Plenković and Anušić should stay out of it,” the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović told the Prime Minister and ministers who have in recent days criticized and publicly targeted the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces General Tihomir Kundid for carrying out the President’s order and not sending members of the Croatian Armed Forces to the military parade in Paris.
“No one can do anything to Chief of the General Staff Kundid. They are dangerous bluffers,” President Milanović added, recalling that members of the police also went to Paris on orders issued through the police chain of command. “Kundid was supposed to do what the Commander in Chief ordered him to do, just as officers of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit acted on Božinović’s order, or rather on the decision he passed down to the Director General of Police. Things are clear if one wants to be minimally fair. But when the goal is to persecute Chief Kundid, a man who cannot defend himself – and that is what Plenković, Božinović and Medved are doing – it is disgraceful because Kundid cannot answer to them,” said President Milanović.
The President added that he respects members of the special police, “but they are not the Croatian Armed Forces, and any attempt to compare them with the Armed Forces, as if there were some rivalry, is inappropriate.”
He especially singled out Minister Davor Božinović for criticism over his attack on General Kundid. “Davor Božinović, who previously served as Head of the Office of President Mesić, used to interpret the President’s constitutional powers in military command in an almost dictatorial way. That same Božinović – who came to the SDP saying that Mesić would win the election and that we would crush the HDZ – later joined the HDZ and everything changed. Božinović has no right to speak about this because he should first answer for his own actions,” the President said, warning that he would raise the issue “every time they mention the Chief of the General Staff in such a vile manner – a man who cannot and will not defend himself, simply because he carried out an order.”
President Milanović also argued that Prime Minister Plenković should not have agreed to sit in the second row as Croatia’s representative in Paris, behind Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, since Serbia is not a member of the EU, NATO or the Coalition of the Willing. He said that, were he Croatia’s Prime Minister today, he would not have accepted such an arrangement.
“Protocol is politics. If it was an EU event, then Vučić was a guest and cannot sit in front of the Croatian Prime Minister in the front row. If it was an event of the Coalition of the Willing, why should Serbia be seated in the front row? In that case as well, Plenković has no place in the second row. If it was a NATO event – and it was not, because there were no Americans – Vučić again cannot sit in front of Plenković. So the French have special dealings with Serbia, and they behave as if we do not exist,” the President said, reiterating that he had decided the Croatian Armed Forces should not take part in the parade in Paris under such circumstances.
“But our top officials have no problem with that; they are there to oblige and line up. At whose expense? To make matters worse, this also concerns Serbia, to which the French sell weapons – some to us, some to them – and then explain that it is all for a better future. I do not see that as sound state policy. I will continue to ask all the necessary, uncomfortable and legitimate questions until someone provides an explanation, while they can keep attending military parades and sit behind Vučić.
He further explained why he opposed the participation of the Croatian Armed Forces in the Coalition of the Willing parade. “As far as Croatia is concerned, I oppose its participation because, for now, this is merely psychological preparation for war against Russia. Nothing is happening in the European Union in economic, social, cultural or any other terms; the EU is focused exclusively on the narrative of war and on attempts to finance arms production. The EU has put itself in an unfavourable position, though not yet as unfavourable as it could become if this reckless behaviour continues. Russia poses no threat to the territory, security, peace or lives of EU citizens. But a conflict can be provoked, and some people are eager for that – and then they will flee. And who do they think they will mobilize for it? Croats? That will not happen,” said President Milanović.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan