Croatian lawmakers on December 16 rejected a proposal for Croatia to join an EU mission in support of the Ukrainian military.
The government needed 101 votes in the 151-seat parliament -- a two-thirds majority -- to pass the proposal, which was narrowly rejected 97-10.
In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union agreed in October to set up the Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) and appointed a Polish general to lead training, most of which will take place in Poland.
Twenty-two of 27 European Union members have confirmed their participation in the mission.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, who is the supreme commander of the Croatian armed forces, opposed the proposal, which would have entailed the training of Ukrainian troops in Croatia.
Milanovic said Croatia should not be involved in the war and the proposal would violate the constitution because it failed to clarify the basis for declaring Ukraine an ally, given that it is not a member of the European Union or NATO.
Opposition deputies in Croatia said they did not want to become hostages to political disagreement among the Balkan country’s top leaders and said the constitution does not envisage parliamentary votes on matters normally approved by the president in agreement with government.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic dismissed criticism that legal procedures had been violated when the government sent the proposal to the parliament hoping to secure the two-third majority.
"The participation in this military mission is just a consistent, principled, and rational decision of Croatia, in its national interest," Plenkovic said, calling it a choice between Ukraine and the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Plenkovic said it was a shame that among the deputies who either voted against the proposal or didn’t vote at all had not yet distinguished "the forest from the trees, white from black, day from night, good from evil."