ZAGREB, May 28, 2018 – Events marking Croatian Army Day and the 27th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Army continued on Sunday at Zagreb’s Jarun recreational sports centre with attractive programmes and a display of military equipment.
In attendance were President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Defence Minister Damir Krstičević, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, high-ranking domestic and foreign officers and numerous members of the public.
The event started with a 27-gun salute, followed by parachute jumps, a programme performed by the Guard of Honour, a demonstration exercise performed by the Croatian Army, Air Force and Special Forces’ Command, a flypast by MiG 21 jets and a show by the Wings of Storm aerobatics team.
Addressing those attending the event, Veterans Minister Medved offered his best wishes to all members of the Armed Forces. “I am pleased today to see a modern, well-trained and well-equipped Croatian Army, an army that was built in the difficult conditions of the Homeland War. Had we then had the army that we have today, there would have been less suffering and fewer victims. Unfortunately, we had to go through all the suffering and build an army in extremely difficult conditions. We are proud of everything we have achieved,” said Medved.
Defence Minister Krstičević described the Croatian Army as a brand, noting that it was always at its people’s service. “You have seen in the last two years how much we have worked on that… I can see that our people love the Croatian Army, I see here a lot of interested young people. We are here to demonstrate to them the Army’s capabilities,” said Krstičević, noting that military barracks had opened their doors to the public, too, on the occasion of Army Day.
The Armed Forces Day and Army Day are marked every year on May 28, the day when in 1991 an official review of the National Guard Corps was held in Zagreb. It was the first official review of a Croatian military unit which reported then to the first Croatian president, Franjo Tuđman, and that act marked the establishment of the Croatian Armed Forces.
