Croatian president says NATO should not expand to include Ukraine

ZAGREB, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) — Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said on Friday that NATO should not expand to include Ukraine because that threatens Croatia’s interests and that the West will face the consequences if it groundlessly stirs up panic about a Russian attack on that country.

“While I am president, I will be against NATO expanding anywhere,” Milanovic was quoted as saying by the Croatian News Agency.

Those who advocate the expansion of NATO to Ukraine endangers the interests of Croatia, a member of NATO, and “because we are in NATO, someone could send our people there tomorrow,” Milanovic said, referring to the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Milanovic has expressed similar viewpoints when he said on Jan. 25 that Ukraine does not belong in NATO, and the situation along the Ukraine-Russia border is a serious crisis behind which stands primarily the dynamics of U.S. internal affairs. Ukraine has voiced “deep disappointment” over his remarks. ■

Published at www.xinhuanet.com

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