ZAGREB, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Croatia will not send troops to Ukraine and the decisions of the Coalition of the Willing meeting "in no way bind either Croatia or the Croatian Armed Forces," Croatian President Zoran Milanovic wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
"In order to remove any doubt about the role of the Croatian Army in the so-called coalition of the willing, as the supreme commander of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF), I am telling Croatian citizens -- Croatia will not send its soldiers to Ukraine," Milanovic said.
"Croatia is a member of the European Union and NATO and has only obligations arising from membership in these alliances, while the decisions of the so-called coalition of the willing in no way bind either Croatia or the CAF," he stressed.
According to Milanovic, in the new global order that is being created and in which "might and the right of the stronger are becoming the rule in international relations," the key and constitutionally prescribed task of the CAF is the protection of sovereignty and independence and the defense of the territorial integrity of Croatia.
Moreover, the Croatian president emphasized that the financial assistance to Ukraine that the Croatian government has committed to must not be to the detriment of the CAF.
Milanovic made the statement amid the Coalition of the Willing gathering in Paris on Tuesday, as leaders from about 30 Western and European nations intended to anchor security guarantees for Kiev as part of efforts to end the Ukraine crisis.
Milanovic has repeatedly voiced his opposition to sending Croatian soldiers to Ukraine. ■
