On Friday, October 25, the Croatian Ambassador was summoned to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in connection with recent statements by Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anusic.
In statements, the Croatian Defense Minister accused his country's President Zoran Milanovic of becoming like Serbia and Hungary, which support Russia and Putin, due to his unwillingness to help Ukraine.
Scandal between Croatia and Hungary over Ukraine
This is about the situation when Croatian President Zoran Milanovic refused to agree to the government's proposal to send Croatian troops to the NATO Support Mission in Ukraine (NSATU), which will train Ukrainian soldiers on German soil.
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Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anusic expressed outrage at this decision by the head of state.
Speaking in the Croatian parliament, he said that, being from the eastern Croatia, he felt the Hungarian policy in the Croatian region of Baranja, in Osijek. He said that Hungary questions the territorial integrity of Croatia and wants to occupy Osijek.
He also said that he believed that Hungary was not participating in NATO because of its own policy of “Greater Hungary” and therefore did not support NATO and the EU.
Two days later, he also said that by not participating in the military support for Ukraine, Croatia could side with Serbia and Hungary, which publicly support Russia and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
— We want to side with Serbia, Hungary, which now publicly support Putin? Do we want to be part of that team and that part of the world, or still part of the world to which we now belong, the Western world, Western values, Western civilization and Western democracy?, — asked the minister.
He also recalled that NATO countries, and especially Ukraine, helped Croatia in the Patriotic War.
— When we started the conflict, the weapons that came in at that time and the support that came in were mainly from Ukraine, not from Russia, — Anusic said.
Ukraine Scandal: Hungary's Reaction
At a press conference on Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary was seeking better relations with all of its neighbors, including Croatia.
— That's why it was surprising that the Croatian Defense Minister seemed to have chosen a new sport, and that it would be an insult to Hungarians. There was no precedent for this, so we ignored the minister's first comment, but I refused to ignore the second, — the Hungarian Foreign Minister stated.
Szijjarto “respectfully” asked the Croatian government “not to drag us into their obviously existing heated domestic political disputes with the president of the republic”. The Hungarian Foreign Minister also stated, adding that his country has nothing to do with the dispute between the Croatian government and the head of the Croatian state.
— Let them resolve this between themselves and, under the guise of this, not insult Hungary in the future. I believe that our bilateral relations do not justify dragging us into this dispute, — Szijjarto said.
According to a statement from the Hungarian ministry, Croatian Ambassador Mladen Andrljic was received by the Hungarian Deputy Secretary of State for Territorial Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The details of their conversation are unknown.
