In 1991, first units of Croatian Army gathered at the Zagreb Football Club stadium.
With a ceremonial gathering of Homeland War veterans and members of the Croatian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior units, Croatia celebrated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Armed Forces, the Day of Armed Forces and the Day of the Croatian Army, reports Večernji List on May 28, 2016.
In 1991, at the Zagreb Football Club stadium at Kranjčevićeva Street, the first ceremonial review of the Croatian National Guard was held, which included the first brigades of the National Guard which were later transformed into Armed Forces.
In addition to President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, the ceremony was attended by Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković, Defence Minister Josip Buljević, Foreign Minister Miro Kovač, and many other dignitaries.
The official programme organized by the Defence Ministry and the General Staff of the Armed Forces began with laying of wreaths at the Memorial to the National Guard and with firing of honorary artillery units.
The review also included 13 Croatian historical military units and representatives of the Sinjska Alka.
The ceremony will continue at the Jarun Sports and Recreation Centre, where special programme will be organized, including the exhibition of armaments and equipment of the Armed Forces and Ministry of Interior, the exhibition from the Military Museum and the Museum of the Interior Ministry, and the concert of the Jazz Orchestra of the Armed Forces.
Interestingly, given yesterday’s political events, both deputy prime ministers, Tomislav Karamarko and Božo Petrov, attended the ceremony and even sat next to each other. However, journalists who were watching them during the event noticed that, quite understandably, they did not spoke a word to each other and hardly looked at each other for the whole duration of the event.
