Several NATO officers from the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission will be in Ukraine, but this does not mean the mission will take place in that country, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday.

“This NSATU activity will have a few liaison officers who will certainly be in Ukraine… But that does not mean the NSATU activity is in Ukraine. They are there to facilitate the transfer of (weapons) coming from NATO countries to Ukraine,” he told reporters in Petrinja.

“NATO already has a representation office in Kyiv with about 50 people. Where’s the problem?” he added.

President and Armed Forces Commander in Chief Zoran Milanovic refused to grant consent for Croatian officers to participate in NSATU, so parliamentary approval with a two-thirds majority is required.

The government maintains that Croatian officers will only be stationed at the mission’s headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany and will not be deployed to Ukraine.

Ahead of the parliamentary vote, Plenkovic urged the opposition to decide whether they are “for the West or for the East, for our allies and supporting the victim of Russian aggression – Ukraine.”

“Or are you for a sneaky, weak, cowardly, and pointless policy like the one Milanovic advocates? Which is to stay out of it because we don’t want to get involved or offend. Whom? Putin’s Russia, which is the aggressor against Ukraine?” he asked.