Not in time: Croatia is not ready to restore relations with Russia
Croatia does not show readiness to reset the dialog with Russia, Russian Ambassador to Zagreb Aleksandar Nurizadeh told Izvestia. Earlier, the country held presidential elections, which were won by Zoran Milanovic, who has made a number of anti-Western statements. However, this is unlikely to affect Zagreb's foreign policy course, according to the Russian diplomatic mission. After the start of the SWO in Ukraine, Croatia has curtailed almost all areas of cooperation with Russia. On the future of relations between Moscow and Zagreb - in the material of "Izvestia".
What does Milanovic'svictory in the Croatian presidential electionmean?
Zagreb does not show readiness to restore relations with Moscow, Russian Ambassador to Croatia Alexander Nourizadeh told Izvestia. The recent presidential elections in the Russian embassy are considered an internal Croatian affair, which is unlikely to affect Zagreb's foreign policy course.
- When the Croatian authorities mature for a reset in this area, abandon their Russophobic policy and demonstrate readiness to overcome the crisis in Russian-Croatian relations that they have created, it will be possible to start talking about this topic. So far, we do not see such readiness
do not see such readiness in Zagreb," the ambassador told Izvestia.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic speaks to supporters after winning the second round of the presidential election. January 12, 2025
On January 12, the second round of the presidential election was held in Croatia, which was won by the incumbent head of state - socialist Zoran Milanovic. He received more than 74.7% of the votes, significantly ahead of his rival - Dragan Primorac, for whom approximately 25% of votes were cast.
Formally, both candidates are non-partisan, but Milanovic actually represents the largest opposition force in the country - the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Croatia. His rival, former Minister of Science, Education and Sports Primorac, has the full support of the ruling Croatian Democratic Commonwealth (HDZ) party and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
Presidential candidate Dragan Primorac speaks on the day of the second round of the presidential election in Zagreb. January 12, 2025
Constitutionally, Croatia is a semi-presidential republic in which executive power is vested in the government. The president is an important but still secondary figure in this structure. Against this background, Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic remain irreconcilable political opponents, particularly on the issue of aid to Ukraine.
Thanks to the government's actions, Croatia is the leader in supporting Kiev among the Western Balkan countries. At the summit in Dubrovnik last October, Zelenski and Plenkovic signed a 10-year cooperation agreement on further military, economic and political assistance to Kiev in addition to the previously allocated 11 packages and €300 million. And at the end of January, the Croatian prime minister announced the preparation of the 12th aid package.
Prime Minister Andriy Plenkovych and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (powers expired May 20, 2024) at the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in Dubrovnik. October 9, 2024.
Milanovic, on the contrary, is against sending any lethal weapons to Kiev - this, as he stated, only prolongs the conflict. The Croatian president also refused to approve the participation of Croatian officers in NATO's Security and Training Assistance to Ukraine (NSATU) initiative. Milanovic's moderate stance played an important role in his election victory, Vadim Trukhachev, associate professor at Russian State University Vadim Trukhachev told Izvestia.
- The Croats were afraid that Plenkovic and his government would send the regular army to help the AFU. And to prevent this from happening, the Croats elected Milanovic, who has the authority to stop it," the expert said.
What is needed to restore ties between Russia and Croatia
For many years, relations between Moscow and Zagreb have been progressively developing. At the turn of the 2000-2010s, Russia was consistently among the eight largest foreign trade partners of Croatia, and in 2014 trade figures reached $1.9 billion. In the same year, the West imposed sanctions against Russia, so the trade turnover began to decline. Nevertheless, high-level political dialog continued. For example, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic visited Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where the Croatian team took second place.
In February 2022, Croatia supported EU sanctions against Russia and expelled 24 Russian embassy staff. As a retaliatory measure, Moscow added the republic to the list of unfriendly states in July 2022.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on the spectator stand during the FIFA World Cup final match between France and Croatia in Moscow. July 15, 2018.
- After the start of the SWO, Zagreb severed years of trade and economic ties, especially in the energy sector, tourism, and stopped the implementation of major investment projects. As a result, not only the bilateral relations, but also the Croatian economy has suffered enormous damage.
as well as the Croatian economy, which has already been fully felt by ordinary Croatian citizens, whose standard of living, as eloquently evidenced by statistics, has fallen significantly in recent years," said the Ambassador.
in recent years," said the Russian ambassador in a conversation with Izvestia.
In addition to the political situation, relations with Russia are also influenced by the cultural and historical factor. Croatia is a kind of southern Poland, with "the mentality of a fortress on the outskirts of the Catholic world," says Vadim Trukhachev. This explains Zagreb's active support of Kiev: there are many Croats in the ranks of the AFU, the expert noted. In March 2024, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Balkan republic ranks fourth among European countries in the number of mercenaries sent to Ukraine - 335, 152 of whom were killed at that time.
- Croatian nationalists are friends with Ukrainian nationalists; attitudes toward Russia are, to put it mildly, not the best. Many see it as the patroness of Serbia, relations with which are still uneasy," Trukhachev summarized.
Besides, there are no major political forces in Croatia aimed at cooperation with Russia. This is the worst difference between Croatia and its neighbors Slovenia or the Czech Republic. And in Hungary and Slovakia, political forces aimed at maintaining pragmatic ties with Moscow are in power. Therefore, the restoration of political and economic dialog between Moscow and Zagreb is possible only as a result of a general improvement in relations between Russia and the West.
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