\u201cWhat the HDZ and the Government of the Republic of Croatia are doing is downright politicization or an attempt to politicize the Croatian Army. Namely, the only proposer of this decision is the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the proper Ministry. The Chief of the General Staff is not a political person and he must not participate in deciding and in making political decisions. According to the logic of the Minister, who ran away from this meeting, it would turn out that the Chief of the General Staff is his adjutant. The Minister was attending meetings of NATO and other bodies, making all the arrangements about this and it is shameful that today he as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister is not able to explain the proposed decision without the Chief of the General Staff\u201d, the Head of the Office of the President of the Republic Orsat Miljeni\u0107 stated at the Parliamentary Defence Committee meeting when commenting on the conduct of Defence Minister Ivan Anu\u0161i\u0107 who asked that the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces be present at the Committee meeting which was to discuss the Government\u2019s decision related to the participation of Croatia in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine mission (NSATU). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chief of the General Staff was not invited to the Committee meeting, Head of the President\u2019s Office Miljeni\u0107 explained, but the Minister told him \u2013 \u201cyou will come with me\u201d. \u201cBy this logic, the President of the Republic too could have told the Chief of the GS to go the Committee meeting today. But not before or now will the President of the Republic allow politicization of the military. This is a decision that the Government proposes, as a political body, exclusively a political body, to which the President as a political institution consents or does not consent, and on which you as MPs decide. The army does not make the decision\u201d, Miljeni\u0107 said, adding that the army will carry out every task it gets because that is how the army operates in a democratic society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTherefore, what the HDZ is trying to do is an attack on democracy, which is unacceptable and unthinkable \u2013 abuse of the military to explain your political positions. You force the army to say whether a political decision is good or bad. That\u2019s something that the army must not say. And that\u2019s why the Chief of the General Staff has no place here and that’s why the President decided as he has in this case and will decide again. The Minister hides his political decision behind the army, it is cowardly and out of the question\u201d, the Head of the President\u2019s Office Miljeni\u0107 said, explaining why the President of the Republic ordered the Chief of the General Staff not to turn up at the Committee meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Head of the Office of the President of the Republic warned that \u201conce again this demonstrates the HDZ’s tendency to occupy all institutions, to capture the Croatian army and to turn the army into their henchmen\u201d. \u201cThat must not be allowed. This is a democratic country. In a democratic country, if you are a politician \u2013 and I\u2019m saying this to the Minister, the Prime Minister and everyone from the Government \u2013 be accountable for your decisions. So where is your courage? Come here and explain what is happening, and don’t hide behind the Chief of the General Staff”, said the Head of the President\u2019s Office and repeated that the attempt to bring the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces to the Committee meeting was a manipulation to politicize the Chief of the General Staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Committee meeting \u2013 where the members of the ruling party walked out \u2013 Head of the President\u2019s Office Miljeni\u0107 talked about Croatia\u2019s role in NATO. \u201cCroatia is not just a loyal partner, but one that expects its partners and allies to respect all commitments, and in case of us being attacked that they help us as we would help them. Within that, the President gave his consent to increase by 80% the presence of members of the Croatian Armed Forces in NATO countries that border with Russia. To wit, the number of members of the Croatian Armed Forces is increased from 300 to 520. Why? Because they are in the Alliance. But, Ukraine is not in the Alliance\u201d, he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that context, he reminded that Croatia\u2019s NATO and EU partners are not always loyal partners. \u201cYou have Operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Isn\u2019t it a paradox and contemptuously rude on the part of the EU \u2013 because that is an operation launched by NATO, and taken over by the EU \u2013 not to allow Croatia to participate in the operation with even one officer. As many as 23 countries are taking part in that operation, from Turkey and others, all of them can participate in the operation in BiH, but to Croatia they say \u2013 you can\u2019t\u201d, Miljeni\u0107 noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, Head of the President\u2019s Office Miljeni\u0107 pointed out the fact that, according to the Constitution, the President of the Republic is responsible for the defence of the country. \u201cNowhere in the Constitution does it say that the Government has anything to do with defence. However, according to Article 94, paragraph 3, the President of the Republic is responsible for the defence of the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia. That\u2019s the Constitution. Let someone show me where the Government is mentioned in the Constitution in terms of defence. Where is the Minister of Defence mentioned in the Constitution? Therefore, those are people who would want to be commanders in chief instead of the legally and legitimately elected person as provided for by the Constitution\u201d, he noted. Since HDZ MP Ante Deur called the advisers of the President \u2018a herd\u2019, the Head of the President\u2019s Office underlined that this proves \u201cthe whole time, they relate not to us, but to the Constitutional order, because they think that the country is theirs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked by an MP on President Milanovi\u0107\u2019s participation in the NATO Washington Summit, the Head of the President\u2019s Office said that President Milanovi\u0107 \u201cclearly said before and after that Croatia would not participate in the NSATU mission\u201d. \u201cHe told the Defence Minister, I was present, that he would not sign that a Croatian soldier goes to the mission. So, the Government knew that and they are taking on the obligation anyway\u201d, he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He warned that first of all a systematic violation of the Constitution by the Government should be pointed out. \u201cThe Constitution clearly prescribes the separation of powers between the Government and the President of the Republic, elected by a huge number of citizens, who has full legitimacy in co-creating foreign policy. The problem is that ministers travel around the world, attend a number of conferences, meetings and take on obligations for the Republic of Croatia \u2013 some of which concern both defence and foreign policy \u2013 without consulting the President of the Republic beforehand. So they say \u201cwe will do that\u201d, yet they didn\u2019t ask for the opinion of the one who makes the decision, Head of the President\u2019s Office Miljeni\u0107 said, and added that this is the reason why the President has called on the Prime Minister several times to convene sessions of both the Defence Council and the National Security Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why he stressed, at the Defence Committee meeting, that the Government is constantly violating the Constitution and usurping the Constitutional order. \u201cWhat is provided for by law and what is the express letter of the Constitution, they violate it and say \u2013 \u2018we won’t do it because we don’t like it, we don’t recognize Milanovi\u0107\u2019. \u201cSo that’s what they do all the time. And that’s why they avoid those meetings where this should have been discussed, \u201cconcluded the Head of the President\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWhat the HDZ and the Government of the Republic of Croatia are doing is downright politicization or an attempt to politicize the Croatian Army. Namely, the only proposer of this decision is the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the proper Ministry. The Chief of the General Staff is not a political person and he must not participate in deciding and in making political decisions. According to the logic of the Minister, who ran away from this meeting, it would turn out that the Chief of the General Staff is his adjutant. The Minister was attending meetings of NATO and other bodies, making all the arrangements about this and it is shameful that today he as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister is not able to explain the proposed decision without the Chief of the General Staff\u201d, the Head of the Office of the President of the Republic Orsat Miljeni\u0107 stated at the Parliamentary Defence Committee meeting when commenting on the conduct of Defence Minister Ivan Anu\u0161i\u0107 who asked that the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces be present at the Committee meeting which was to discuss the Government\u2019s decision related to the participation of Croatia in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine mission (NSATU). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34113,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-34115","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n