The President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia participated today in the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the 9th Guards Brigade “Vukovi” and the establishment of the Motorized Battalion “Vukovi” in Gospić.
“Your first, capital, sacred task is the defense of Croatia and its borders, sovereignty, what constitutes the state, the democratically elected government, its inhabitants, regardless of their ethnicity and religion. There is also membership in common defense alliances in the system of collective security, that is NATO. For years, we have worked for Croatia to join NATO and we never intend to leave it. But, above all, the defense of our homeland, with resources that we must use wisely and be ready at all times, God forbid, to act. Until then, we need to live in peace, work and be aware of belonging to an elite organization in which not everyone can be a member”, said President Milanović to the members of “Wolves”.
Office of the President
“This morning I was in Široka Kula near the monument for 48 murdered civilians, killed in a few days in the fall of 1991. These people were killed on their doorstep just because they were of other nations and religions. Those who killed them were convicted, but not all. After 30 years, I don’t expect it to be talked about every day, but on an important day like today we have to talk about it, we mustn’t forget it because those victims are embedded in the foundations of the Croatian state. Those people disappeared overnight, many were young, women, children. They expected a better future, a European Croatia and they didn’t get it,” the President of the Republic continued his address, emphasizing that the Croatian Army and the “Wolves” brought peace, stability and predictability to our country and to those who survived the war, Milanović’s office announced.
Office of the President
President Milanović recalled the beginning of the Homeland War when the army had the impossible task of defending the country practically without weapons, under the conditions of an international embargo. “Those people were not only brave, but they were also smart and well organized because in every battle they had to take care of how many weapons they had. Something completely different from today’s war in Ukraine”, he said and added that “at the center of everything was the Croatian state, the nation, a community of people who live in the same space, within the same borders and who share a common path. “The entry into the European Union and NATO has not changed that and will not change it. You are serving the homeland, the Croatian state, for which 56 of your friends and comrades and 48 unfortunate civilians died, the Croatian people in Široka Kula”, concluded President Milanović and added that we must fight for our interests and goals for the purpose of our protection, but certainly taking into account “being correct and fair to others”.
During the ceremonial commemoration of the organization in Gospić, President Milanović awarded berets to three female members and fourteen members of the “Vukovi” Motorized Battalion and laid a wreath and lit a candle in front of the memorial to the dead, missing and deceased members of the 9th Guards Brigade “Vukovi”. With President Milanović at the laying of the wreath, there were Deputy Chief of Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Colonel-General Siniša Jurković, Commander of the HKoV Colonel-General Boris Šerić, Commander of the Guards Mechanized Brigade Brigadier General Dražen Ressler, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defense and National Security Dragan Lozančić, special adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War veterans, Marijan Mareković, head of the Military Office of the Cabinet for Defense and National Security, Rear Admiral Predrag Stipanović, and aide to the President of the Republic, Brigadier Vlado Čulina.
Office of the President
Before leaving for Gospić, the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, paid tribute to the civilian victims of the Homeland War by laying a wreath and lighting a candle in front of the memorial in Široka Kula. President Milanović was accompanied by the mayor of the town of Gospić, Karlo Starčević, and the special adviser to the President of the Republic for veterans of the Homeland War, Marijan Mareković.
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