"Živjela Hrvatska!" Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responds to Croatian President who criticised slogan "Glory to Ukraine"

Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has responded to Croatian President Zoran Milanović, who compared the greeting "Glory to Ukraine" with a similar slogan of the Croatian Ustaše (a radical far-right movement created in the 1940s – ed.).

Source: European Pravda

Details: On his Facebook page, Nikolenko published a screenshot of the news with the Milanović's quote, and added, "Glory to Ukraine! Živjela Hrvatska!" ["Long Live Croatia!" – ed.]. Živjela Hrvatska has the same meaning for Croatians as "Glory to Ukraine!" has for Ukrainians.

Živjela Hrvatska is also the name of a patriotic Croatian song; the lyrics were written by famous Croatian writer August Šenoa, and the music was composed by Ivan Zajc in the middle of the 19th century.

Background: Earlier, Milanović said that "Glory to Ukraine" was "the cry of the most radical chauvinists in Ukraine's west, who collaborated with the Nazis and killed thousands of Jews and Poles."

The Croatian president has repeatedly made such pro-Russian statements before. For example, in January, he called for not comparing the situation in Kosovo with the annexation of Crimea, saying that Crimea would never be Ukrainian territory again. Milanović also stated that Croatia should not provide any military aid to Ukraine, and sending Western tanks to Kyiv would only prolong the war.

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