President Milanović Attends Ceremony in Delnice Marking 30th Anniversary of “Goranski risovi” 138th Brigade Formation
The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović attended a ceremony in the town of Delnice marking the 30th anniversary of the formation of the “Goranski risovi” 138th Croatian Army Brigade, where he told the members of the brigade to be proud of what they have achieved and safeguarded.
“These are the people who liberated a significant part of Croatia with weapons, which you were among the first to take into possession in those dreadful days of late 1991. Croatia was literally defended at that time. And that is why we do not call the Croatian warriors from that time ‘defenders’ by chance. The defense was crucial. Everything afterwards was difficult and uncertain, but it still led to the inevitable goal of liberation. If it weren’t for 1991 and such operations, who knows how things would have turned out,” President Milanović told those present at the ceremony.
“I would not want you to go in the direction of self-pity, to appreciate yourself less than what you are worth, to search for the culprit where the culprit might simply be the times, and to a lesser extent the Croatian Governments, even this one,” said the President.
President Milanović added that today, thirty years on, Gorski Kotar is one of the most abandoned parts of Croatia. “Cities are suffering, and small towns and villages are suffering the most. It is a trend that is overrunning much of Europe, except for its wealthiest parts that can prevent this. And that is why I understand your problems and I think we will have to address them for a long time, persistently and with a lot of money, with European funds. I call on mayors and all other local self-government leaders to be lynxes, to be secretive, yet clear about their desires. Do not show your real intentions, go for the money that is yours and play by the rules. Be noble predators when it comes to European money,” said President Milanović.
“That money is waiting for you. That money cannot be given by the Croatian Government, for it has its limitation in this regard,” said the President, calling on everyone to fight for every euro from the EU funds because “these guys of ours fought, above all, for Croatia, they fought for our people to be able to decide about their destiny and their resources, to make key decisions themselves, and that is not entirely the case today,” he added. By joining the European Union we made a compromise, said President Milanović, pointing out that this has benefits, but costs as well.
“There is no going back and neither darkness nor fog stands before us, but a good perspective, so fight for Croatia’s money. Only in this way will we avoid low self-esteem, which leads to depression. And depressed nations are the ones that obey. You have proven that you are not like that,” concluded President Milanović.
At the ceremony, President Milanović posthumously awarded the fallen Croatian defender Joško Kordiš, who was a member of the 138th Brigade, with the Order of Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan with Gilded Interlace as an honourable sign of the eternal memory of those who died for the Croatian state in war.
Attending the “Goranski risovi” 138th Croatian Army Brigade 30th anniversary ceremony in the town of Delnice apart from President Milanović were the following individuals: President of the 138th Croatian Army Brigade Club Željko Sokol; wartime Commander of the 138th Croatian Army Brigade Miljenko Balen; Commander of the Rijeka Operational Zone Antun Rački; Mayor of the Town of Delnice Katarina Mihelčić; Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Prefect Zlatko Komadina; envoy of the Deputy Prime Minister and Veterans’ Affairs Minister and Head of the Directorate for Counselling, Psychosocial and Health Care in the Ministry of Croatian Veterans Dinko Tandara; envoy of the Minister of Defense and State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense Zdravko Jakop.
During his stay in Delnice, the President of the Republic laid a wreath and lit a candle at the “Goranski risovi” 138th Croatian Army Brigade memorial in memory of the fallen, deceased and missing Croatian defenders. Special Adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković was alongside President Milanović.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas