"At first it seemed to me that a Russian official was saying this," the Croatian prime minister apologizes for the president's derogatory remarks to Ukraine.

“I would like to apologize on behalf of the Croatian government to Ukraine, one of the first countries to [1991.gadā] acknowledged the Croatian state, “the prime minister was quoted as saying by the news agency Hina.

Milanovich had previously said that Ukraine was “one of the most corrupt countries in the world” and that in the event of a military conflict, Croatia would withdraw its troops.

“All this is happening in Russia’s forecourt,” the head of state added, noting that an agreement should be reached that “would take into account Russia’s security interests.”

“At first it seemed to me that a Russian official was saying this,” the prime minister said of the president’s remarks, recalling that there were no Croatian troops in Ukraine.

According to Plenkovich, a contingent of Croatian officers has recently returned from Poland, where he was part of the NATO force, on schedule.

Croatia is honoring its NATO membership commitments, the prime minister emphasized.

Croatia became an independent state in 1991 after the break-up of Yugoslavia. It has been a NATO country since 2009, but also part of the European Union since 2013.

For several weeks now, tensions over the concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders have been easing, raising concerns about preparations for another Russian invasion in Kiev and the West.

Russia denies allegations of an invasion of Ukraine by its troops. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow is taking a defensive stance because of fears that Kiev is getting too close to NATO.

At a video summit on December 7, US President Joe Biden warned Putin that the United States would impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia if it attacked Ukraine.