Plenković: There is no reason for Croatia to withdraw its ambassador from Russia

The European Union has expressed solidarity with the United Kingdom and Croatia is not currently considering withdrawing its ambassador from Russia, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday for the HRT television news, commenting on the case of the nerve agent poisoning for which London blames Russia.

Earlier on Friday in Brussels, where he participated in the spring session of the European Council, the Prime Minister said that Croatia would consider possible measures against Moscow on Monday after European leaders agreed that Russia is ‘very likely’ responsible for the nerve agent attack in Great Britain.

“We have already shown solidarity last night with the United Kingdom,” it is a “common stance and message from all members,” it is a “signal of unity,” he said in an interview for HRT.

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On Thursday evening, there was nearly three hours of discussion about the use of a nerve agent on the territory of a NATO member, a member of the European Union, and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and all EU members were united in condemning that attack and in withdrawing the EU ambassador to Moscow for consultations, he said about the first day of the session in Brussels.

“At this moment, we do not see any reason (for Croatia) to take such a step,” Plenković said in response to a question about whether the government is considering withdrawing the Croatian ambassador from Moscow, at least for consultations.

The Prime Minister further emphasized that Great Britain has lifted restrictions for Croatian workers and that his government made a reciprocal decision on Thursday, and such restrictions now exist only for three EU member states.

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He confirmed that after returning from Brussels on Friday, he spoke with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and expects her to participate in the state leadership meeting on Monday.

“We spoke with the President today, we agreed on consultations, because this is a question that is both security and political and foreign policy, we want to align our positions and what is important is to show solidarity towards our ally in NATO and the EU, but also to take into account the real foreign policy relations we have,” he said.

When asked repeatedly whether he was aware of the President’s invitation to President Vladimir Putin to visit Croatia, the Prime Minister did not respond directly but reiterated the previously stated position that this is “a continuation of her talks with President Putin after she visited Moscow and Sochi about five months ago.”

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Public opinion suggests that Pantovčak and Banski dvori do not have a unified foreign policy, and when asked directly whether that policy is coordinated, the Prime Minister replied, “We talk regularly, we meet every month” and “generally speaking, we strive to ensure that all messages we send are in the interest of the Republic of Croatia, strengthening our foreign policy position.”

Plenković expects the President to also participate in the Defense Council meeting at six o’clock on Tuesday, where the purchase of combat aircraft will be discussed.

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The Prime Minister further stated that the spring session of the European Council discussed many economic topics related to the single market, the energy union, and the digital market, and welcomed the decision of the U.S. administration to exempt the European Union from tariffs on steel and aluminum.

“It is good that today a decision was made regarding the exemption that the U.S. administration granted to the EU regarding tariffs on steel and aluminum, from that perspective an important potential economic problem has been resolved,” he said.