Croatia can help Ukraine in the areas of demining and processing war crimes, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Tirana.
“We are very interested in Croatian companies, which, for example, produce the most modern demining machines, to be among the leading actors,” Plenković said. “I think we have companies that are leading in the world,” he added.
Today, the Croatian Prime Minister participated in the second Ukraine-Southeastern Europe summit in Tirana, which was hosted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Albanian President Edi Rama.
The summit was also attended by the presidents of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, Moldova Maia Sandu, Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, the president of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski, the chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers Borjana Krišto and the president of Montenegro Jakov Milatović.
“Ukraine is interested in the joint production of munitions with the countries of Southeast Europe,” Zelensky said at the summit.
“We see problems with the supply of ammunition. This affects the situation on the battlefield. We are interested in joint production with you and all our partners,” said the Ukrainian president.
He added that he would soon present the details and proposed a special “Ukraine-Balkan Defense Industry Forum in Kiev or one of your capitals.”
Plenković repeated in a press statement after the meeting with Zelenski in Tirana that none of those present at the summit of Ukraine’s Western allies held on Monday in Paris neither offered nor asked to send soldiers to Ukraine.
“No one, no one at all, offered or asked to send troops to Ukraine. Therefore, everything we saw in this regard in the media does not correspond to what was said at the meeting,” he said.
“What was the topic was some very specific skills that can help Ukrainian soldiers in defending their territory,” Plenković added.
He pointed out that the purpose of the summit in Paris was to obtain broad support for the continuation of military aid to Ukraine, and not to agree on the sending of soldiers.
On the sidelines of the summit in Tirana, Plenković also met with the chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto.
They talked mostly about the reforms that BiH is implementing in order for the European Union to make a decision on opening accession negotiations with BiH in March.
Croatia is helping “to create the preconditions for making an important decision,” Plenković said.
