All but one parliamentary group back the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO

Zagreb - The entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO was supported on Thursday by all the Croatian parliamentary groups except the group of Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and the Workers' Front (RF) who wanted this matter to be tied to the resolution of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The HSS leader, Krešo Beljak, told the Sabor that Croatia should make its approval for the two new NATO members conditional on the resolution of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the whole of southeastern Europe so that "we will not have wars along our borders".

Beljak insisted that he could understand Finland and Sweden, however, he firmly believes that the risk of potential war is much greater in the Balkans than in Scandinavia.

All other groups, both of the ruling coalition's parties and the Opposition, supported the aspirations of Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Alliance having in mind the context of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and Russia's open threats to other countries.

The proposal to ratify the NATO accession protocols for the two countries will be put to a vote on Friday, the last sitting day of Parliament before the summer recess.