Croatia opposes NATO membership of Finland, Sweden

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic intends to send a letter instructing Croatia's ambassador to NATO, Mario Nobilo, to vote against Finland and Sweden joining the alliance until Bosnia and Herzegovina's electoral legislation is changed.

"I am ready for accusations if they follow. I have already stated that Croats in Bosnia are more important to me than the entire Russian-Finnish border," RIA Novosti reports, quoting Milanovic.

The Croatian leader cited Turkey as an example, which, in his opinion, "knows how to defend its national interests". He also added that Ukraine's interests are not an acute problem for Zagreb.

He noted that Croatia's refusal to ratify the agreement will draw the international community's attention to Croatian interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that this is the only way to solve the problem of Croats' rights in this country.

At the same time, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlich-Radman referred to Milanovic's plan as "blackmail" and "an un-European solution".

Earlier, the Financial Times newspaper reported that Turkey blocked the start of the application process for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

Prior to that, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he could not support Sweden and Finland joining the military bloc because it would turn the organization into "a place where there will be many representatives of terrorists". He recalled that Ankara had requested extradition of 33 Kurdistan Workers' Party and FETO [Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation] members from Stockholm and Helsinki, but had been refused.