Croatia wants to help Ukraine with mine clearance efforts

Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic said this at a briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov at the Ukraine – Odesa Media Center, according to Ukrinform.

"We understand your suffering very well. Our experience of the defensive 'Homeland War' from the 1990s is the reason that we know what you are going through. We also talked about veteran care and post-war efforts like demining," he said.

He also added that Croatia would support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

"All of Europe must be aware that the Russian missiles which fell on Ukraine are not so far away from our own homes. Russian aggression and Russia's influence have effects on security and the economic situation in Europe. […] [Ukraine] can count on the Croatian government," Banozic said.

Reznikov, in turn, noted that Croatia had been helping Ukraine since the first days of the full-scale invasion and had been supporting its position at all meetings of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

"Croatia has a fantastic experience in demining because this country has been engaged in humanitarian demining for more than 25 years - it is a legacy of the war that took place on their territory. Croatia has a very powerful National Mine Action Center, so we talked about the possibility of training our instructors for the humanitarian demining of Ukrainian lands. We agreed on further cooperation," Reznikov said.