The Croatian president Zoran Milanovic today in Budapest he criticized the European Union, which, as he said with apologies for the expression, behaves "as if we are retarded", he announced Tanjug.

He said this recalling the letter of the Vice President of the European Commission, Joseph Borrell, which he sent to Zagreb a month ago.

"A month ago Borel sent a letter to Croatia full of lies, in which he treats us as if we are retarded. I apologize for the expression, as if we have special needs. To deny us a symbolic presence in the Altea Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina I'm trying to be polite, but at some point you have to say enough," Milanovic said.

Milanović said today in Budapest that he and his host, the president of Hungary, Kathleen Novak, they also discussed the problems with minority rights and added that if, as he said, the Croats and Serbs can agree on the Cyrillic alphabet in Vukovar, he does not see where the problems are in the Zakarpattia region in the west of Ukraine, where 150.000 Hungarians live.

"I don't see where the problems are in the Transcarpathian region, where 150.000 Hungarians live, and why the EU is silent about it. Is this also a pro-Russian position", Milanovic asked at the joint press conference with Novakova.

"We were at war and attacked by a stronger enemy. We had no weapons, no one helped us, as a rule they imposed high criteria on us and we were under an embargo. We implemented the highest standards of minority protection, and after the initial unpleasant events, people started returning to Croatia and started demanding their minority rights," said Milanovic.

The Croatian president said that he feels great in Budapest, that the two countries have never had serious misunderstandings, and that apart from minor problems, they agree on many things lately.

At the joint press conference with his host, Milanović said that Hungary, along with Austria and Germany, is one of the few countries that helped Croatia during the "Homeland War".