FM says that Croatia supports NATO membership in Finland, Sweden
ZAGREB, April 28, 2022 – Croatia supports Finland’s and Sweden’s potential NATO membership, which would strengthen Croatia’s security and defense, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Thursday.
“We feel that Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership will only strengthen our security and our defense,” he told the press at Zagreb airport after talks with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto, adding that all NATO members have the same position on it.
Grlić Radman said that his Finnish counterpart called him two days ago and his Swedish counterpart yesterday, and that he told them that he supports “their future application as an important contribution to transatlantic security.”
Croatian President Zoran Milanović has said that the Croatian parliament should not ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership until the election laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina are amended so that more Bosnians do not elect the Croatian member of the presidency and delegates to the House. of people.
According to him, Croatia must use this “historic” opportunity to fight for the rights of BiH Croats and also resolve a security issue.
Grlić Radman said today that by joining NATO, Croatia agreed to the open door policy that provided that all countries that met the standards could join if they wanted to.
Szijjarto said that Finland and Sweden had not yet applied for membership, but that Hungary would have a positive view if they did.
The two ministers discussed the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Szijjarto said that Hungary supported Croatia’s position that the Croatian member of the presidency must be elected by Croats.
He said that for the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was necessary to respect the will of all three constituent peoples and that Hungary did not support the political campaign and sanctions against Serbian President Milorad Dodik.
Grlić Radman said that national minorities are a strong link in Hungarian-Croatian relations and that the model for protecting their rights in the two countries was exemplary.
Speaking about the energy situation in the wake of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Szijjarto said that energy supply was not a philosophical but a physical issue and that Hungary would pay for Russian gas so that it reached Hungary.
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