Croatian President: I won’t let European bureaucracy speak in my name - Georgia has no ties with Moscow, yet branded pro-Russian

Zoran Milanović, the President of Croatia, on Thursday said that Georgia, a country without diplomatic relations with Moscow, was unfairly accused of pro-Russian sympathies during a joint briefing following his meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili.

In his remarks, Milanović highlighted the idea of exerting pressure on a small, politically isolated country struggling with EU integration as “unacceptable”.

“As Mr. Kavelashvili calls it, this is done by the Brussels bureaucracy, the European bureaucracy. They cannot speak on my behalf, and I will not allow them to speak in the name of Croatia. That is why I came here personally”, he noted.

“To be completely honest, there was no EU visit in 2025, and I apologise for the statement, but this is madness. I wanted to come to this country, which is accused of being pro-Russian, pro-Moscow, or pro-Putin, but I have a different experience. I may be mistaken, but this is a country with no diplomatic ties to Moscow, yet it is accused of being an agent of Russia. I do not understand this, which is why I decided to come personally to see what is happening”, Milanović continued.

The Croatian President further added that he had seen ministers from other EU member states come to Georgia to participate in rallies and join the opposition.

“I wanted to understand this, because I thought how I would feel if politicians came to my country, to my capital, to the central square. Regardless of who they are, I do not care about political sides in Georgia, and I should not take sides. For me, the very idea of exerting pressure on a small, politically isolated country struggling with EU integration is unacceptable”, he concluded.