“I’ve arrived from an institution that has marked its 30th anniversary this morning — the Croatian National Bank (HNB). That 30th anniversary isn’t actually real because that institution had existed before. This one, yours and ours, hadn’t existed, it was created amid the war and state-building process. And it’s completely new and in that sense completely ours,” said Milanović at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Military Academy and a graduation ceremony.
He added that after 30 years of the Croatian state, the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Military Academy and the HNB were the only two institutions that had done their job well and with honor and had never disgraced themselves.
“One of these two institutions is financial and it enjoys a good reputation but doesn’t inspire love. The other one, your and our Croatian army is special, it is only ours, it serves to defend our country and did so when it was hardest, and it’s respected and loved by the citizens and the people. These two institutions, these two pillars, do what is good in the Croatian state,” he said.
He announced that he would visit the Republic of Kosovo in two days, where he would also visit Croatian soldiers who are there as part of NATO’s KFOR operation. He stressed they were there “because that is our decision”.
“No solidarity, no force made us go there, that is our decision and our assessment that it is good for us and the region. We will increasingly have to be guided by our interests and then solidarity,” Milanović stressed.
You have something to be proud of, you’ve chosen a difficult job
He told the military academy graduates that they had something to be proud of and that they had chosen a difficult job of being a Croatian soldier in a country that is a NATO and EU member.
In addition to President Milanović, the event was attended by his adviser on war veterans, Marijan Mareković, the Commander of the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Military Academy, Lt. Gen. Mate Pađen, and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Siniša Jurković.
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