Kosovo sparks debate and political clashes in Croatia. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic harshly criticized the country's president, Zoran Milanovic, for the statement that shocked Westerners and became headline news in Serbian and Russian media.
"No country has annexed Kosovo. Kosovo is an independent state recognized by Croatia. If it had been annexed, this would be done by a state. It is important for Kosovo to be independent, for us to have diplomatic relations with it", declared the Croatian Prime Minister.
Plenkovic further added that the president does not know the concept of international law on annexations.
This reaction came after Milanovic said that Croatia together with the West annexed Kosovo and snatched it from Serbia. He expressed himself thus by commenting with great anger on the sending of Western tanks to Ukraine, where he also mentioned the fear that the underestimation of Russia as a nuclear power could bring destruction for everyone and a third world war.
The Croatian president emphasized that he is not trying to question the independence of Kosovo, but that he is doing this to highlight where Russia's desire for its annexations in Ukraine started.
However, Milanovic's statement has been significantly reported by the Russian and Serbian media as a position that legitimizes the claims of the Serbian state regarding the non-recognition of Kosovo.