ZAGREB — Croatian President Zoran Milanović has formally declined to grant agrément to Israel's proposed new ambassador, the Croatian presidential office confirmed Wednesday, citing what officials described as the 'unacceptable policies of the Israeli government' in Gaza as the grounds for rejection. The move transforms what had been a quiet diplomatic friction into an open bilateral dispute with significant implications across the European Union.

The refusal is among the most explicit acts of diplomatic censure by an EU member state toward Israel since the Gaza conflict intensified, and it places Croatia in rare company alongside states that have taken formal governmental steps beyond rhetorical condemnation. Israeli foreign ministry officials in Jerusalem responded sharply, calling the decision 'a politicisation of standard diplomatic protocol' and summoning the Croatian chargé d'affaires for consultations.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy officials expressed unease at the development, noting that while member states retain sovereign authority over ambassadorial acceptances, the move risks further fracturing a bloc already divided over its stance toward Israel. Several Eastern European governments, including Hungary, issued statements distancing themselves from Zagreb's position, while Spain and Ireland — both of which have taken harder lines on Israeli conduct — offered implicit support for Croatia's right to act.

Analysts in Zagreb noted that President Milanović, who holds a largely ceremonial role but controls the agrément process for incoming ambassadors, has used foreign policy gestures before to assert political relevance domestically ahead of upcoming electoral cycles. Nevertheless, legal experts stressed that the refusal carries real diplomatic weight and will delay normalisation of Israeli representation in Croatia indefinitely unless either side blinks.

Israel's foreign ministry is expected to formally lodge a complaint through diplomatic channels by end of week, while the Croatian government under Prime Minister Andrej Plenković — whose centre-right administration holds a more cautious line than the president — sought to minimise the episode publicly, signalling the internal tension within Zagreb's own institutions over how forcefully to confront Tel Aviv.