He was in Milan to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) at which Croatia, as a new European Union member state, became a member of this intercontinental cooperation forum. Over the two-day summit, about 50 heads of state or government discussed current global topics. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko met with European leaders to discuss how to solve the Ukraine crisis.
Commenting on Russian-Ukrainian relations, Milanovic told Croatian reporters that the relations were "very complicated. What Vladimir Putin said today is basically correct, but the question is whether he said everything he should have said. There were no untruths, but some truths were omitted."
Milanovic reiterated that Europe's position on Ukraine was not uniform, "which is normal. It's normal that Croatia doesn't have the same fears as Lithuania or Poland or Romania... After all, Croatia isn't directly affected by what is going on Ukraine, but we have our position on it. This level of interfering is unacceptable."
Speaking of the ASEM summit, Milanovic said "there was a lot of talk on the economy but it is just an apparent context. There was talk on global challenges, security, Europe-Asia relations, democracy, authoritarian government."
As for the economic talks, notably the crisis in Europe, he said that Germany, as Europe's economic driver, was in "an interesting economic situation."
"Many are talking about the beginning of a recession in Germany based on the past two quarters. Many are talking about the need for greater spending in Germany, that it shouldn't be obsessed about having a completely balanced budget, without any deficit, that it should invest more and spend more," Milanovic said.
"In a way, Croatia depends on the situation in Germany. Our growing exports aren't going to Bangladesh or China. They are going to Italy, Germany, Austria and Slovenia... If things come to a standstill at those markets, here or in Munich or in Berlin, we will again be in a more difficult situation... You can't blame anyone in Croatia for that, either the left of the right wing. It's simply the world we live in," Milanovic said.