Croatian president slams NATO chief's visit to Japan, South Korea

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic gestures as he speaks to a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart at the presidential Sandor Palace in Budapest on January 20, 2023. PHOTO AFP ZAGREB - Croatian President Zoran Milanovic criticized the visit to the Republic of Korea and Japan by North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and condemned the Western decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine.

I see that the chief of NATO is in South Korea and Japan. He does not represent me and my country there. It is not a NATO area, but it is in the vicinity of China. Milanovic said that it has nothing to do with Croatia and he met the Croatian troops dispatched to participate in NATO's enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Lithuania.

Stoltenberg is in the ROK and Japan between Jan 29 and Feb 1 to address the security threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and China.

Milanovic also condemned the West's decision to send German tanks to Ukraine, stressing that sending weapons will not end the conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian tanks have burned out, and the German tanks will suffer the same fate, Milanovic said.

As opposed to the Croatian government which was willing to participate in the new military mission of the European Union to support Ukraine, the Croatian president rejects military training for Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia and criticized Western policies in Ukraine.

READ MORE: NATO chiefs don't view China as a threat.

Milanovic called the idea crazy, as some in the European Parliament are talking about tearing Russia apart.