Croatian President Zoran Milanović calls on the country’s parliament to vote against Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership. Joining NATO would require the consent of all member states.
26.4. 18:27 • Updated April 26th. 19:17
Finland’s and Sweden’s membership of NATO has been twisted.
President of Croatia Zoran Milanovic has threatened Croatia to vote against Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership, Croatian television says.
If Finland and Sweden apply for NATO membership, all member countries must accept it. Croatia has been a member of NATO since 2009.
The background is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral law
Milanović makes the approval of Finland’s and Sweden’s membership conditional on the amendment of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral law first.
He demands that the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, made up of Croats, Bosnians and Serbs, give the country’s Croats the right to elect their own representatives.
The background is an internal political dispute between Bosnian Croats. The country’s largest Croatian party, the HDZ, does not recognize the Croatian representative of the presidential council, which represents Bosnia’s three ethnic groups, and has called for a reform of the country’s electoral law that would give the Croats more power.
The Croatian state has supported the demands.
Who will decide Croatia’s position?
He also admits that the decision on Finland’s or Sweden’s membership is not in his hands, as the decision is made by the Croatian Parliament.
At the same time, he also deplores the fact that Croatia has to interfere with NATO’s application for “as an exemplary country as Finland”.
What thoughts does the story evoke? You can discuss the topic on 27.4. until 11 p.m.
Story and title updated on 26.4. 7.15 pm: As the President of Croatia cannot decide for himself whether to support or oppose Finland’s NATO membership, it is clearer to express that the President threatens to block Finland’s NATO membership. The story and headline at first read that the president threatened to block Finland’s NATO membership, although in the end it was stated that the president would not decide.