President Milanović on Vir: You Have Proven to Have the Knowledge and Heart to Lift this Island from Strange State

“You have proven to have the will, ambition, knowledge and heart to lift this small island, this place, this town and this municipality from a strange state it found itself,” told the President of the Republic Milanović tonight in his address to the people of Vir during the ceremonial session of the Vir Municipality Council on the occasion of the Municipality Day and the Feast of the Municipality’s heavenly patron, the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.

President Milanović praised Vir’s exceptional progress in rectifying past urban planning and utility challenges, emphasizing that the damage done fifty years ago was corrected only within a single generation. President Milanović emphasized that Vir had been a “damage control champion” for years, but the true turning point had been brought by the vision of the local government. “This small, yet densely populated island did not have running water up until 2013. I know that behind these results there is the concentrated, targeted, and meaningful work of a group of people who fought to ensure this town – formally not a town, but possessing all attributes of a town – reaches a point where connection to the water supply and sewage network is at 35 to 40 percent at this moment,” said President Milanović. “This is an unreal success compared to the situation that was found, and it was so complicated that it seemed it could never be implemented,” added the President.

 “Continue this way. The vision and plan you are working by is working. These results are measurable and do not forget your special mentality,” told President Milanović to the natives of Vir, congratulating them on Municipality Day.

Alongside President Milanović, the president of Vir Municipality Council Kristijan Kapović, Mayor of Vir Marino Radović, and Zadar County prefect and envoy of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Josip Bilaver delivered an address at the ceremonial session of the Vir Municipality Day. Moreover, annual awards were presented to the most deserving individuals and organizations for their contribution to the development of the Municipality.

President Milanović was accompanied by the Head of the Cabinet of the President Bartol Šimunić and Adviser to the President for local and regional self-government relations Nikša Peronja.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek