ZAGREB, April 3, 2019 – A commemoration was held at the Ron Brown Memorial House in the coastal town of Dubrovnik on Wednesday to mark the 23nd anniversary of the death of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown and 34 other passengers aboard a U.S. plane that crashed on 3 April 1996 while en route from Tuzla to Dubrovnik.
Addressing the event, the first secretary for political and economic affairs at the US Embassy, Sarah L. Groen, underlined the importance of the tragic event for relations between the United States and Croatia, noting that over the years it had led to intensive cooperation and a number of important development projects.
We look forward to many more years of cooperation in business, enterprise and innovation as well as to friendship and partnership in general, the US official said, pointing to strong defence cooperation between the two countries and noting that the US embassy was recording great interest among US citizens in visiting Dubrovnik and Croatia.
Dubrovnik County deputy head Žaklina Marević said the visit by the US delegation in 1996 was to have served as a message of friendship and cooperation.
“Today Croatia is a member of the EU and NATO and cooperation with the U.S. is increasingly good. We are working on improving air connectivity and simplifying the process of obtaining a US visa,” said Marević.
Dubrovnik deputy mayor Jelka Tepšić expressed respect for and gratitude to those killed in the plane crash as well as to the United States, which, she said, was a strong partner to Croatia during the Homeland War.
After the commemoration, Groen, Marević and Tepšić laid flowers and lit candles at the plane crash site near Dubrovnik.
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