President Milanović in Promina: Croatia’s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn’t good
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović paid tribute to the Croatian defenders and civilians of the Promina region who lost their lives during the Homeland War. He laid a wreath at the Central Cross in Oklaj, in the Municipality of Promina, and attended a commemoration marking the Memorial Day for the fallen defenders and civilians of the Promina region in the Homeland War.
In addition to President Milanović, those attending the commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony included Tihomir Budanko, Head of the Municipality of Promina; Davorka Bronić, President of the Promina Municipal Council; retired General Rahim Ademi; representatives of the Croatian Parliament, Šibenik-Knin County, and other towns and municipalities in the county; representatives of the families of those killed and missing from the Promina region; Croatian defenders and representatives of Homeland War veterans’ associations from the area. Apart from the President of the Republic, wreaths were also laid by Hrvoje Zekanović, Member of the Croatian Parliament and delegate of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament; Nenad Tisaj, Deputy County Prefect of Šibenik-Knin County; Tihomir Budanko, Head of the Municipality of Promina; delegations from the towns of Šibenik, Knin and Drniš and the Municipality of Unešić; representatives of Homeland War veterans’ associations; and a Croatian veteran from the Municipality of Promina. President Milanović was accompanied by Marijan Mareković, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans.
Following the commemoration, President Milanović also attended a ceremonial session of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Promina, held to mark the 143rd anniversary of the municipality’s establishment. In his address, President Milanović recalled the defenders and civilians from the Promina region who were killed during the Homeland War. He spoke in particular about the civilian victims, stressing that they “were completely innocent and unsuspecting victims,” which made their murder all the more horrific.
“Our policy is uncompromising when it comes to human values and our national interests. There are no dogmas here. There is judgment, assessment, calculation, but also self-interest. State affairs are conducted with self-interest in mind. We know what it looked like when Croatia was led by unyielding people from the left and the right – Bolsheviks and Hitler’s allies. That kind of consistency and exclusivity in politics and in a country’s relations with others is not good,” President Milanović said at the session of the Promina Municipal Council.
He stressed that “for the first time in modern history, as a nation and a country, we are all together within a system that we ourselves chose,” and that Croatia now has the opportunity “to reap the benefits to which we are entitled because of our geographic position.” “Geography determines everything, and that is why we should make no reckless pledges and no grand promises to anyone – except the promise that we will behave like people. But when making decisions, we must look first and foremost to our own interests, while taking care not to stab our allies in the back. Such a Croatia – its own master, on its own soil – is, I am convinced, the Croatia that everyone who has mattered in our history would have stood for and endorsed,” the President said.
“I hope the days when we as a nation were divided over major issues are behind us forever. There will always be times when we talk, disagree and even argue. That will not change, but we must debate these issues and remain decent people,” President Milanović added.
The President said that he “does not like divisions between East and West” and that “Christians should be Christians.” “I am more inclined to see human values as Christian values in the broadest sense because this is a Christian continent. Europe is a Christian continent, Croatia is a Christian country. These are the traditions that unite this continent. And they are also – in my view – the only true, deep and enduring human values that connect us from Portugal to Finland,” the President said.
“Let us stand by our own and respect what belongs to others. Let us not indulge in fantasies about some supranational entity that will govern us all. Croatia’s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B – Vienna [Beč], Berlin, Budapest and Belgrade – wasn’t good. Brussels may be better than Belgrade, but let us think about where our heart is, where our mind is, and where our interests lie,” President Milanović concluded.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić