Military and Police Operation “Flash” Commemoration is No Place for Salute ‘Za dom spremni’
The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces left the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Military and Police Operation “Flash” held in the town of Okučani, in protest against the salute ‘Za dom spremni’ [For the homeland ready] on T-shirts of some of the war veterans who participated in the official ceremony that was organized by the Ministry of Croatian Veterans.
In his remarks to the press, the President said the following: “I came to Okučani to pay tribute to those who fell for Croatia. My views are known, I state them publicly with no intention of offending anyone, but sometimes you have to say things clearly. My Office did not participate in the organization of the commemoration; this was organized by the Ministry of Croatian Veterans and we had acceded to all the elements of the protocol whereby war veterans and families of the fallen soldiers should be the first to lay a wreath, and after that the Prime Minister and the President. It was all right. However, one of the participants who was supposed to lay a wreath before me appeared in the T-shirt with the salute ‘Za dom spremni’ and I did not want to take part in this. That’s a matter of the organizers who could have taken this into account. That’s my position.”
“I am sorry that this was an intentional act of provocation. It was something on which we had counted. That happened. I find this an act of trampling on the victims’ sacrifice and on the memory of that event. Unfortunately, this had to happen because someone wanted it to happen. I will not participate in any commemoration in the future with such occurrences. I am not responsible for the organization of this event and I understand the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. They have to. As long as such conditions are present – and this was done intentionally by someone – I will not participate. There is no room for the salute ‘Za dom spremni’ in a place such as this,” President Milanović concluded.