ZAGREB, June 24, 2019 – Croatia celebrates Statehood Day on Tuesday, the 28th anniversary since declaring independence from Yugoslavia.
On this occasion, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will hold a formal reception in her office, and the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, will celebrate the Holy Mass for the Homeland in St Mark’s Church.
Statehood Day commemorates 25 June 1991 when the Croatian Parliament adopted a historic resolution initiating the process of disassociation from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia based on the results of a referendum held on 19 May 1991.
Until 2001 Statehood Day was observed on 30 May to commemorate the inauguration of the first multi-party Croatian Parliament in 1990. Today 30 May is observed as Croatian Parliament Day.
Statehood Day might again be celebrated on 30 May as of next year, as announced by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who said that that date was more popular among the citizens.
The Declaration of Independence was announced by the first President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, in an address broadcast by radio and television on 25 June 1991.
“It is with undisguised satisfaction and pride that we are notifying all republics and federal bodies of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the whole world about the sovereign will of the Croatian people and all citizens of the Republic to declare the Republic of Croatia an independent and sovereign state on this day, and we are inviting the governments and parliaments of all states to accept and recognise the free decision of the Croatian people, an act of freedom whereby one more nation wants to become a full member of the international community of the free world,” Tudjman said then.
Through the mediation of the international community, the entry into force of the constitutional decision of 25 June 1991 was delayed for three months to facilitate disassociation negotiations among the former Yugoslav republics.
At that time, namely since August 1990, Croatia was subjected to military aggression by Serb extremists and the Yugoslav People’s Army. A quarter of its territory was under occupation, and the Croatian people rose in defence of their homeland. The country suffered extensive destruction and heavy casualties during the war.
Most of the occupied territories were liberated in 1995 in combined military and police operations known as Storm and Flash, and the remaining territory under Serb occupation, Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, was peacefully reintegrated in 1998.
Croatia joined NATO on 1 April 2009 and the European Union on 1 July 2013.
More news about Croatian history can be found in the Politics section.
