PM: Syrian Chemicals Will not Pass Through Croatia

Croatia’s Prime Minister Zoran Milanović has said that Croatia will not be used as a thoroughfare for the transportation of tonnes of dangerous chemicals from Syria as was reported last week in the Croatian media…

The chemicals from Syria, which are ‘precursors’, or chemical ingredients for weapons, will be destroyed in the Atlantic ocean under US supervision, with reports last week that Croatia’s Adriatic coast would be used as a path for the delivery. The news upset local groups and now Milanović has quashed any doubts by confirming that Croatia received a request for the handling of the chemicals too late, and that nothing will be done in Croatian territory. Milanović said that via Italy would now be the most likely path.

Two ships, a Danish and a Norwegian ship, are waiting for approval in Cyprus to take part of the Syrian chemical arsenal, which must leave the country by the end of December. The U.S. has agreed to arrange for the destruction of chemical weapons to be carried out in international waters aboard the U.S. Navy ship.