President Milanović at HVO Celebration in Mostar: Croatianhood in Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be eradicated and without it there is no Bosnia and Herzegovina
The President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanović attended a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). On the occasion, President Milanović decorated posthumously HVO General Ivo Lozančić, commander of the 111th Brigade of HVO Žepče and the HVO Areas of Operations Mostar, Tomislavgrad, Vitez and Orašje.
At the special session held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Defence Council, President Milanović stated that he will weigh his words “because I realize that each word and gesture of mine will be scrutinized and labelled as either friendly or hostile”.
“I come here to be among my people, my Croats, as a friend and always a friend, a brother”, he said, further noting: “I wish to tell our partners, all those who are listening to me and to all those who care, that the organization of this gathering – in terms of culture, style, decency – shows that all of this is Europe! It demonstrates to all those who are sceptical towards Bosnia, towards Herzegovina, towards the role of the HVO in the war which was fateful, significant and victorious, including all the minor mistakes that can always be talked about, but cannot be a basis for imposing a guilt complex and eternal penance. And to all those in Croatia who are sceptical or have prejudices, I can only say – come here and see for yourselves, come here to admire”.
He went on to say that he was elected to be the president and the representative of all the Croats, Croatian citizens, Croatian minorities, Croats abroad and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I’m not ashamed of it, this is my duty, this is the oath I took, this is my awareness and my conscience. I have no prejudices against anyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not towards the Serbs who were our enemies and aggressors in the last war, nor towards the Bosniaks who are a reality, our neighbours. All of this is reality and so is Croatianhood in Bosnia and Herzegovina that cannot be eradicated and without which there is no Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the President underlined, adding that there is no Bosnia and Herzegovina either without the Serbs or without the Bosniaks.
“It is a trinity, a unity that makes up Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order for it to function, certain conditions should be met, certain promises kept, respect what has been signed and stated, that’s the gist of the story. Croatia is one of Dayton’s guarantors, Dayton was a means to end the war, and for Bosnia and Herzegovina to survive. Croats as the least numerous people in Bosnia and Herzegovina don’t want to be a minority. They don’t want to have the status of a minority”, President Milanović noted, adding that minorities in Croatia enjoy a status that perhaps no one else enjoys in any other European Union state. “What happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last sixteen years, did anyone take notice or sense that at the expense of the Croats – who are the least numerous people, yet not a minority – someone would realize their petty interests, and jeopardize the basic interests of their state, their people,” President Milanović asked in addressing the gathering.
He reminded of his stance that Bosnia and Herzegovina should be granted EU candidate status. “After the horrendous Russian attack against Ukraine, which must be condemned, on the initiative of the presidents of Central and Eastern European states to grant Ukraine immediate candidate status in negotiations for membership in the European Union, I replied – I cannot consent until this same status is granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This, however, has not been recognized as a friendly act”, he said, and underlined that “we want Bosnia and Herzegovina integral, whole and orderly in the European Union”.
“As far as I’m concerned, just when it joins the European Union can it become the ideal of cosmopolitan moralists and philosophers – a civic state. Just then, and until then it is Bosnia and Herzegovina structured according to Dayton, which developed in the blood of Croatian soldiers, the Croatian Army, the Croatian Defence Council and the Army of B-H”, the Croatian President stated.
Regarding accession to the European Union, his view is that this is one of the most important things that Croatia achieved in its integrational path towards a brighter future because it is the Croatian interest. “The European Union is a means, an institutional goal and a means through which we reap the benefits for ourselves. This is a business relationship. Unfortunately, the European Union has demonstrated that it is a poor administrator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that it is being transformed into a colonial administration. This process is no good because it is managed by bureaucrats who don’t know or don’t understand, who are just simply wasting our time”, President Milanović commented, adding that it is a very lengthy period of time and that “there is no justification whatsoever that twenty-seven years later Bosnia and Herzegovina has no clear-cut definition”.
“Yes, I will provoke and seek that Bosnia and Herzegovina is granted candidate status. Because, if Serbia can have it, if Serbia can negotiate for years its membership in the European Union, which I do not oppose, how can they remain silent and deny Bosnia and Herzegovina”, President Milanović stated, and concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina, like the European Union, can survive and progress only if diversity is respected.
On 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), the President of the Republic bestowed posthumously upon Ivo Lozančić the Order of Duke Domagoj with Ribbon for bravery and heroism displayed in the war and the Order of Ban Jelačić for extraordinary command of Croatian Defence Council (HVO) units as well as for overall merit in the organization of the Areas of Operations Mostar, Tomislavgrad, Vitez and Orašje.
Addressing the gathering aside from President Milanović were the head of the Department for Defenders of the HVO and the Homeland War, the Croatian National Assembly (HNS) of Bosnia and Herzegovina General Vlado Džoić, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans’ Affairs of the Republic of Croatia Tomo Medved and the Chair of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of B-H and the President of the Croatian National Assembly Dragan Čović.
Prior to the special session in the Croatian Home of Herceg Stjepan Kosača, President Milanović laid a wreath and lit a candle at the Central Monument to the Croatian Defenders in the Homeland War. Alongside President Milanović were the Head of the Office of the President of the Republic Orsat Miljenić, the Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic Bartol Šimunić, the Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defence and National Security Dragan Lozančić and the Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterasn Marijan Mareković.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić