Christmas Greetings from the President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanović

Dear fellow citizens,

We are on the eve of Christmas, the most joyous Christian holiday, which has a special meaning for all the faithful in our homeland.

The greatest values of Christmas – love for our neighbour and faith that good will prevail – will be celebrated differently this year than what we are used to. In our recent history, unfortunately, there have been difficult periods when we could not celebrate and mark the Christmas holidays with dignity and in a traditional way.

But today we are faced with completely new, never-experienced circumstances that put all of us to the test of responsibility and solidarity.

A test of responsibility in terms of our families’, friends’ and co-workers’ health, as well as our own.

A test of solidarity towards our society as a whole, and above all towards the people who have for months been selflessly putting themselves at risk in the fight for the lives and health of people throughout Croatia, in the fight to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

Christmas is a holiday of family, community and care for our fellow man. Caring for our loved ones, especially the elderly, feeble and ill family member has never been more important than it is today.

Let us protect our mothers and fathers, and our grandparents – babe, didove, none, noniće. This holiday season let us show that we are very responsible and that we care about those who have taken care of us all our lives.

Christmas is also a time of kindness and solidarity, a holiday that guides us towards tolerance for diversity, understanding and mutual respect. In difficult times such as the ones we are living in today, we are all equally in jeopardy and that is why we need to have in mind the well-being of the people we don’t know.

Let us nurture the culture of the heart for our fellow man and the sense of human responsibility towards everyone during these holidays.

May these holidays encourage us even more strongly in our commitment to universal human values – values that are indispensable to any organized society. Let us acknowledge different views as a contribution to getting out of this situation, and not as a problem.

And let us not forget those who are different from us, who are frailer, neglected or excluded. I call on all those who make decisions to listen – in the spirit of the Christmas message – to the needs of our citizens who have been brought into a position of inequality by this crisis.

I wish all the Christian faithful a Merry Christmas. And I wish everyone in Croatia joyful holidays. Spend them in peace, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!