Most urges Croatia to quit Ukraine ‘coalition’

The news in Croatian

1. zastupnik  (m.)
   osoba koja službeno predstavlja interese građana ili neke skupine u saboru ili drugom tijelu ↩︎
2. izaći
   prestati biti dio nečega ili napustiti neko mjesto ili skupinu ↩︎
3. koalicija  (f.)
   savez ili udruga više država, stranaka ili skupina koje surađuju radi zajedničkog cilja ↩︎
4. sigurnost  (f.)
   stanje u kojem nema opasnosti ili prijetnje, osjećaj zaštićenosti ↩︎
5. europski
   koji se odnosi na Europu ili Europsku uniju ↩︎
6. sukob  (m.)
   situacija u kojoj se dvije ili više strana snažno ne slažu ili se bore jedna protiv druge ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Why does Stranka Most think being in the “coalition of the willing” is bad for Croatia?

Question 2: What international groups does Stranka Most say are enough for Croatia to be part of?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
zastupnik  (m.)	member of parliament
izaći	to withdraw (from)
koalicija  (f.)	coalition
sigurnost  (f.)	security
europski	European
sukob  (m.)	conflict

Read the full story

Croatian opposition party Most, together with independent MP Josip Jurčević, has called for Croatia to withdraw from the so‑called “coalition of the willing”, a group of states that coordinate support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia. The initiative was presented at a press conference in the Croatian Parliament (Sabor).

Speaking to journalists, Most MP Zvonimir Troskot argued that Croatia “has no place” in this coalition, which he links to what he describes as an increasingly confrontational approach towards Russia. He pointed in particular to recent statements by French military officials, reported in Croatian media, about the possibility of future combat with Russia, which he called “extremely dangerous messages”.

Troskot said that, from his party’s perspective, Croatia already achieved its main strategic goals after independence by joining the European Union (EU) and the NATO alliance. In his view, participation in an additional informal grouping that he associates with a more direct confrontation with Russia does not serve Croatian interests.

He repeatedly emphasised what he called the need to protect “Croatia’s national interests and national security”. As an example of perceived vulnerability, he reminded reporters of the still‑unresolved incident in which a military drone crashed in Zagreb in 2022, saying this showed that Croatia could be exposed to risks in regional conflicts.

According to Troskot, the Most parliamentary group will send a formal proposal for withdrawal from the coalition to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament and to Croatia’s security and intelligence bodies. Remaining in the coalition, he claimed, is “highly dangerous” for Croatia if international rhetoric around the war continues to escalate.

Independent MP Josip Jurčević, who cooperates with Most in Parliament, also criticised Croatia’s current positioning. He argued that tensions and what he called a “conflict of interests” among powerful NATO and Western countries have been intensifying over the past months and that, in his view, Croatia is being drawn into this dispute in a way that could be harmful for Europe and the wider world. He blamed Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for aligning Croatia too closely with these policies.

Both politicians used strong language to warn against what they see as “war‑mongering rhetoric” from some Western leaders and from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Troskot insisted that Most does not want Croatia to be associated with any calls that, in his interpretation, could prolong or deepen the war with Russia, especially given Russia’s declared nuclear capabilities and Croatia’s lack of its own air defence system.

At the same time, Troskot stressed that Croatia is, and in Most’s view should remain, a loyal member of NATO and the EU. He stated that Croatia has already provided diplomatic and material assistance to Ukraine and continues to fulfil its treaty obligations. The disagreement, as he presented it, is not about NATO or EU membership itself but about involvement in an additional framework that he associates with a higher level of risk.

Other Croatian political actors and state institutions had not, at the time of these statements, issued detailed public responses to Most’s proposal in the reports reviewed. The government has previously underlined Croatia’s solidarity with Ukraine and its commitment to common EU and NATO positions, but the specific question of leaving the “coalition of the willing” was not addressed in the quoted coverage.

For observers outside Croatia, the debate illustrates a broader discussion within some European countries about how far support for Ukraine should go, how security guarantees should be interpreted, and how smaller states balance alliance commitments with their own assessment of national risk. In the Croatian case, Most’s initiative places these questions formally on the parliamentary agenda, while the final decisions remain with the country’s top political and security institutions.

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