Lawyers for Ukrainian diver Vladimir Zhuravlev will appeal against the decision of the Pula District Court, which was published these days, that their client can be extradited to Germany. "We expect the Supreme Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia to accept our appeal," Ljubo Pavasović Visković, one of Zhuravlev's defense lawyers in Croatia, told us. The appeal period lasts three days from the receipt of the written decision, possibly including next weekend.
The Ukrainian was detained in Pula in August. Germany is seeking him on charges of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Last year, Poland refused to extradite Zhuravlev, but Germany filed a new indictment earlier this month. This time with the more severe qualification - for war crimes and destruction of civilian property, instead of the first crime of sabotage.
The influence of politics on the judiciary
The Polish decision was interpreted through political motives and it is hard to believe that there is not at least an equal influence of politics on the judiciary in Croatia. Damir Grubiša, a former diplomat and retired professor at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb and the American University in Rome, believes that legal norms at that level no longer play an important role.
"It has nothing to do with the law anymore, it has moved into the realm of pure politics. The Polish president intervened with the assessment that it was military protection, and we know who the enemy is, therefore - there is no extradition," he told DW, adding that we are obliged to respect the European Arrest Warrant (EUN) in principle. But he is convinced that German economic interests are also at play in this case, reinforced by the energy crisis.
Global energy and geopolitical chaos
"Everything changed when Russia attacked Ukraine, but the needs remained the same, while the economy is slowing down," says Grubiša. He believes that in these matters, Croatia is trying to adapt to the strongest in the EU, with the fact that it does not attach much importance to the issue of the extradition of the Ukrainian diver in the general context. He sees the problem in the fact that the world is falling into global energy chaos and a geopolitical situation in which European political and economic weaknesses are dramatically exposed.
"An international conspiracy of mediocrity is in effect, diplomats have moved away from international relations. Even Henry Kissinger or John Mearsheimer, not to mention others, supported many more efforts for a diplomatic solution in Ukraine, but decisions are made far from any foreign policy logic. This will not turn out well for Croatia, Germany or the EU," concluded Damir Grubiša.
Extradition challenges
Political analyst Davor Gjenero also believes that Croatia should not have respected the German request this time, noting that he is aware of how much Croatia depends on Germany economically and politically. According to him, there are still doubts whether this is a war crime or some other civil offense.
"This kind of extradition decision, if it happens, is very dangerous. We are a small, poor and uninfluential member of the EU, while Poland is already one of the major powers. But there is that Polish precedent, in the case of the same Ukrainian, which can be used," Genero stressed. Although it seems that the Republic of Croatia has already taken a position, opinions on this undoubtedly differ significantly. But we should not expect the final answer for more than a few days after the appeal deadline./DW
