President Milanović Confirms He Will Attend Operation Storm Anniversary in Knin
After attending a swearing-in ceremony of soldiers enrolled in voluntary military training in Požega, President Zoran Milanović took questions from journalists.
Asked to comment on the possibility of the former President of the Republic of Croatia becoming a candidate for the post of new NATO chief, President Milanović said that “he would have nothing against it” and that “it would be useful for Croatia,” but he emphasized: “It’s in a year, let’s put that aside. I prefer her to anyone else who is a foreigner and everyone should look at it that way, but don’t rush. This should not be made public like this. These things are resolved at the last minute and generally quietly. If you want to hurt someone who is a potential candidate, if they are, then you will talk too much about it.”
President Milanović also commented on the current coronavirus situation in Croatia and on the vaccination process by saying that he understood, but did not approve of the direction it was going. “I have been an advocate of vaccination from the beginning. More than half of the people in Croatia have not been vaccinated. For some reason they won’t. What is the point of putting such pressure on one half of the population? How do you get people to get vaccinated? By terror? Threats? It doesn’t work that way. Those who were vaccinated and wanted to get vaccinated were able to do so and can still get vaccinated. For him or her, life is almost completely normal. I do not feel threatened by people who were not vaccinated, but I will try to encourage them to get vaccinated,” he said.
He pointed out that he believes that Croatia’s approach will not be individual, because as a member of the European Union, it will be important how the largest countries behave. “I see a fear of the situation there, of the voters. It started with repressive measures, with threats to certain categories of people. If someone is ready to take the risk of becoming seriously ill with corona, let them take it,” said President Milanović, reminding that for a year now we have been witnessing an approach that restricts fundamental human freedoms without a qualified majority in parliaments.
The President also addressed the topic of this year’s anniversary celebration of the Military and Police Operation Storm. He replied to a journalist’s question about the agreed protocol and location of this year’s ceremony at the stadium in Knin. “Not everything is happening at the fortress and that has changed from year to year. My Government was the first to open the fortress to the defenders. It is not clear to me why this was not done earlier. Last year, the centre of Knin was fenced off to prevent people from accessing it. I didn’t do that. And now we’re going to the stadium,” said the President of the Republic, who also confirmed that he would attend the Operation Storm anniversary ceremony in Knin.
At the end of the press statement, the President answered a journalist’s question on whether he could confirm reports that it was uncertain whether two firefighting aircraft that were in an overhaul facility for an extended period of time would ever fly again: “We have six firefighting aircraft, that’s a lot and it’s adequate. There is always some under repair. It’s mid-July, so far there have been no horrific fires, let’s hope … things will stay that way,” President Milanović said, concluding: “If the two firefighting aircraft indeed won’t be able to fly due to parts procurement issues, it should not be a problem for Croatia to buy others because it is a matter of national interest.”