It is known that the government of Croatia, headed by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, favors the initiative of France and Germany to strengthen the EU's joint armed forces. In contrast, the President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, openly opposes it - on the trail of her proven closeness to NATO and US positions.
The plan itself has actually been implemented for a year, but the stories surrounding it have heated up significantly since leading European statesmen have recently mentioned it more often and more significantly. It is, of course, a reaction to the growing pressure of US President Donald Trump towards the EU. The European Union's "permanent structured cooperation" project in the defense sector, known by the abbreviation PESCO, therefore continues to develop.
"Croatia obviously supports him, by participating in various EU units, albeit for now still with a small number of its soldiers," says foreign policy analyst Božo Kovačević.
Croatia-Serbia: A cartoon version of the arms race
Kovačević - a lecturer at the "Dag Hammarskjoeld" College of International Relations and Diplomacy in Zagreb and a former ambassador of Croatia - emphasizes that Croatia's positions are still not sufficiently articulated when it comes to the vision of the future of the EU. At the same time, he draws attention primarily to the two points of view already mentioned in the top of the state, but he also looks at the regional context:
"As for Croatia's immediate surroundings, we know that the Balkans is still an area where different interests collide. And what is happening in the military field between Croatia and Serbia is a somewhat caricatured version of the global arms race that the USA wants to impose for its own interests and to exhaust its rivals."
"First of all, the region should stabilize the quality of further EU integrations," continues Kovačević, "but there are problems there. Because, in addition to America, the influences of Russia and Turkey are visible. Serbia is frustrated by the loss of Kosovo, so it relies on Russia, which uses it for confrontations with America and NATO, as well as with the EU in this area. At the same time, America's interests under Trump are defined in such a way that a better integrated European Union is, from their current perspective, undesirable."
"In other words," concludes the DW interlocutor, "if EU integration is a prerequisite for stabilizing the region, then America's actions are not aimed at stabilization."
Militarization in Southeast Europe is not realistic for now
And what do current Croatian politicians think about all this, especially those who represent their country in the European Union? We asked Joza Radoš, the former Croatian Defense Minister, for his opinion. "I am an advocate of a unique EU foreign and security and military policy. Europe must take responsibility for its own defense. But the calls we hear to form an army are only a symbolic confirmation of readiness for that," says Radoša.
According to the words of our interlocutor, the road to a joint army is in any case very long. There is not even close to a unified position of the entire Union on this, but also because some show more confidence in NATO. "It's mainly about the countries of the former Eastern Bloc," adds Radoš, "and animosity towards Russia." However, Croatia should reason differently, although it is a fact that the EU does not have a single opinion on Southeast Europe either. In any case, the disunity at the top of the state weakens us quite a bit, and we should know that, because of turning to Brussels, we don't have to give up friendship and security cooperation with the USA."
"Relations in our region have no direct connection with Croatia's attitude towards the issue of the EU army. "Regardless of the fact that we are witnessing the mirroring of the global arms race, some kind of distinct militarization in the south-east of Europe is not realistic for now", believes Jozo Radoš.
Finally, let's add that on the side of the EU army, compared to participation in NATO, there is another objective advantage: in the current projections of the purpose of the continental forces, their participation in operations outside of Europe is not mentioned so much, nor is a direct confrontation with Russia . But in practice NATO, precisely because of the USA, these are the main problems.
(Deutsche Welle)
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