Speaking of Karst areas where residents of Kijevo live and where the early medieval Croatian state hails from, Milanović said “our first churches were built here, our identity is here, our roots are here, this is stone.”
“Hardly anything grows in stone, and those who survive, who are strong, who resist, those have a worth and those cannot be rooted out. Those are the people of the Dalmatian hinterland, the people of Herzegovina. They suffered during the war but I don’t see them as victims or those who need charity, I see them as winners. Winners who are dignified and at the same time those who forgive and have mercy,” Milanović said.
The European Union is founded on the culture of forgiveness, self-reflection, faith into a better future and the right to a new beginning, the president said adding that reconciliation and forgiveness require reciprocity and not arrogance and haughtiness. He recalled that brave soldiers had died in Kijevo, but that defenceless civilians had also been killed there.
“When I visit Grubori, the place where atrocities were committed, I come as president, as a Croat, as a citizen of this country and as a common human being. I have no ultimate expectations, but as a human being it would make me happy if the other side, and I say ‘the other side’ with caution because I am not a fan of such divisions, would be reciprocal. This is the only way the European civilization, good neighborly relations, and unity survive,” the president said.
Milanović took part in ceremonies, marking the suffering of civilian victims from Kijevo during the Homeland War.
At the beginning of the Homeland War, the Croat-populated village of Kijevo was besieged by the local Serb rebels supported by the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) units under the command of Ratko Mladić.
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