{"id":38579,"date":"2025-07-01T15:21:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T13:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/?post_type=news&p=38579"},"modified":"2025-07-02T09:23:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:23:50","slug":"president-milanovic-after-his-meeting-with-slovak-president-pellegrini-it-is-legitimate-to-talk-about-ukraines-membership-in-the-eu-but-it-does-not-meet-conditions-and-criteria","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-after-his-meeting-with-slovak-president-pellegrini-it-is-legitimate-to-talk-about-ukraines-membership-in-the-eu-but-it-does-not-meet-conditions-and-criteria\/","title":{"rendered":"President Milanovi\u0107 after his meeting with Slovak President Pellegrini: It is legitimate to talk about Ukraine’s membership in the EU, but it does not meet conditions and criteria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cDefence spending, that five percent of nominal GDP, doesn’t mean anything by itself. There shouldn\u2019t be talk of percentages but of capabilities. Therefore, capabilities, not percentages! I stated this at the NATO Summit and I spoke, without flattery, with American President Donald Trump that the cost of armaments should be kept down, so they aren\u2019t so expensive. Because the American President, as well as the German and French, come there as sales agents for their own defence industries. We are buyers and we buy expensive goods when we get them. Those are the facts\u201d, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 stated today after his meeting with the President of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini, who is on a one-day official visit to the Republic of Croatia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, he recalled that Croatia \u201cpractically donated 35 tanks to Ukraine and we practically got nothing in return, from Germany we got crumbs.\u201d \u201cIn other words, this is how you end up hungry and penniless, this is not solving national problems. I took an oath to the Croatian Constitution and the Croatian people, everything else is an extension\u201d, the President added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Milanovi\u0107 described his guest as an \u201cimportant and relevant collocutor, experienced politician who was also the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic\u201d, and as for relations between Croatia and Slovakia he said they are \u201ctraditionally friendly\u201d and that \u201cbetween these two states there are no open issues\u201d. He especially pointed out the role of the Slovak minority in Croatia: \u201cSlovaks in Croatia are members of the Croatian political and civil nation. I believe that they are well, I know they enjoy the same rights as all other citizens and that\u2019s how it will be in the future too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Milanovi\u0107 further said that the friendly relations between the two countries survived even in the most difficult periods of Croatian history: \u201cThese relations were untroubled in the most complicated and difficult moments of recent Croatian history, which was war. That was a moment of truth when many masks fell, and on the faces of Croatian Slovaks there never were any masks, it was what you saw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Pellegrini thanked the Croatian President for his personal and political support on the eve of his inauguration and pointed out that President Milanovi\u0107 was the first head of state he met with after the election. \u201cI would like to thank him for his excellent conversation and the advice he gave me before the start of my term\u201c, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his statement, the President of Slovakia also recalled the strong support his country has provided to Croatia on its European path. \u201cI am happy that the Parliament of the Slovak Republic was the first EU member state to confirm and approve Croatia’s accession to the Union,\u201d he said, emphasizing Slovakia’s readiness to support Croatia in its further integration ambitions, namely, \u201cSlovakia fully supports Croatia and gives full support to its membership in the OECD.\u201d He also highlighted Slovakia’s interest in cooperation in the use of the LNG terminal on Krk and the possibility of connecting to the Croatian infrastructure for the transport of energy products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to a journalist’s question about the prospects of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, President Milanovi\u0107 said that he does not decide on this. \u201cBut, unfortunately, the European Union has been dragging out negotiations with some of the states from Croatia’s neighbourhood, namely Montenegro and Albania, for years, which is difficult to justify. Talking about Ukraine in the EU is legitimate, but I can see that it is a country whose territorial prospects are not clear, which is at war, and as for the general conditions of membership and some criteria, I do not see that it meets them. From the rule of law and all those criteria that are set \u2013 these are the facts. And what will happen next, the European Union will decide under pressure from the most powerful. Without consensus, this decision cannot be made,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 said, adding that he thinks that \u201cthis kind of promise is hypocritical and insincere\u201d towards Ukraine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen asked by a journalist when he thought the war in Ukraine would end, President Milanovi\u0107 said that it is necessary to talk. \u201cWith the Soviet Union and its leadership, we actively and continuously talked and negotiated and agreed. This was approached in great detail and continuously, all to avoid a nuclear war. Of course, we can and should point the finger at Russia, but there is no excuse not to talk. What else is diplomacy for? So there is no dialogue,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs for the war in Ukraine, I am always on the side of the weaker, but on the side of the Ukrainians, not the authorities. It is a large and complex country, a special country that should have been treated in a special way. Soon it will not have people to mobilize, it\u2019s obvious. We as Europe are announcing 800 billion euros for armaments. Those 800 billion euros do not exist, they will have to be printed and that will be like the momentum of new European freedom and economic growth. I am sceptical about it. Maybe it will start industries, maybe it will help, we will see. I say, I am sceptical\u201d, the Croatian President said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During President Pellegrini\u2019s stay in the Office of the President, bilateral talks were held on a ministerial level. Separate talks were held between the Interior Minister of the Republic of Croatia Davor Bo\u017einovi\u0107 and the Interior Minister of the Slovak Republic Mat\u00fa\u0161 \u0160utaj E\u0161tok, and between the Minister of the Economy of the Slovak Republic Denisa Sakov\u00e1 and the Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Croatia Ante \u0160u\u0161njar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Tomislav Bu\u0161ljeta & Ana Marija Kati\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDefence spending, that five percent of nominal GDP, doesn’t mean anything by itself. There shouldn\u2019t be talk of percentages but of capabilities. Therefore, capabilities, not percentages! I stated this at the NATO Summit and I spoke, without flattery, with American President Donald Trump that the cost of armaments should be kept down, so they aren\u2019t so expensive. Because the American President, as well as the German and French, come there as sales agents for their own defence industries. We are buyers and we buy expensive goods when we get them. Those are the facts\u201d, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 stated today after his meeting with the President of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini, who is on a one-day official visit to the Republic of Croatia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":38527,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-38579","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Milanovi\u0107 after his meeting with Slovak President Pellegrini: It is legitimate to talk about Ukraine's membership in the EU, but it does not meet conditions and criteria - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-after-his-meeting-with-slovak-president-pellegrini-it-is-legitimate-to-talk-about-ukraines-membership-in-the-eu-but-it-does-not-meet-conditions-and-criteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Milanovi\u0107 after his meeting with Slovak President Pellegrini: It is legitimate to talk about Ukraine's membership in the EU, but it does not meet conditions and criteria - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cDefence spending, that five percent of nominal GDP, doesn't mean anything by itself. 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