The president and supreme commander of the armed forces participated in a ceremony in the eastern town of Vinkovci marking the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Army Guards Armoured Mechanised Brigade.
Addressing the troops, President Milanović spoke about the war in Ukraine and then recalled the 1991-1995 Homeland War.
“The war is raging in Ukraine. One large country has attacked another, smaller one. And often as it occurs in history, we have learned little and the weakest and poorest are paying the price,” Milanović said, underscoring the absence of support from the world when Croatia was attacked.
“When Croatia experienced its Calvary and horror, there was no support from the world except international recognition which came too late, much less any weapons. Everything your predecessors achieved, they did completely on their own without anyone’s help and amid obstruction,” said Milanović.
He said that Croatia has for years been proving that “our path was difficult, with errors, bloody but above all fair, just, justified and with the aim that was supported by a vast majority of the Croatian people.”
The army and a military career are above all a vocation, a way of life like few other professions. Many professions, he continued, mean earning a living and paying the bills while the army is something else.
“Our homeland, the Republic of Croatia, is above all of that. We are here to defend it together if need be. (…) You should always be aware that your first and main duty is to defend the Croatian homeland,” Milanović told the ceremony.
