“A situation where soldiers have to stand for hours while politicians and government officials successively lay wreaths to comply with epidemiological measures puts in an awkward position the Army Chief of Staff as well as the commander of the land army who, if they do not want to offend anyone, have to be on duty… after arriving with me, they have to wait for (PM Andrej) Plenković, then, I guess, also for (Parliament Speaker Gordan) Jandroković,” said Milanović, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
“So I’m thinking about telling them to stay home, to simply protect them from any politicking… I will talk with the minister,” said Milanović while visiting the Gašinci military grounds.
Milanović said that he did not see anything contentious about the fact that on Monday, at a reception he gave for retired officers and wartime commanders of the Croatian Defence Force (HVO) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he also met with retired HVO general Tihomir Blaškić, who was in the HVO delegation.
Blaškić was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and served a nine-year prison sentence for the cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosniak civilians and POWs from 1992 to 1994.
“Had Blaškić been responsible for something that, let’s say Ratko Mladić was responsible for, I would not have received him,” he said.
He announced that he would also receive General Milivoj Petković when he is released from prison “because he isn’t a war criminal.”
The convictions against Blaškić and Petković were political convictions, he added.
The ICTY convicted Petković of crimes committed in 1993 against Bosniaks in the territory that was under the control of the Croat authorities of Herceg-Bosna
Asked if he would attend a ceremony marking the anniversary of the establishment of the 4th Guards Brigade in Split, Milanović said that he would attend the ceremony in Knin.
“I’m going to Knin, not Split, that brigade is in Knin and the army will conduct such events in barracks,” the president said.
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