President Milanović Confers Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir with Sash and Star on Croatian Spring Protagonists
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović conferred the Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir with Sash and Star on the following protagonists of the Croatian Spring movement for their extraordinary contributions to the independence and integrity of the Republic of Croatia and the building and progress of the Croatian state: Dražen Budiša, Ivan Zvonimir Čičak, Goran Dodig and posthumously Jozo Ivičević Bakulić, Ljudevit Jonke, Ante Paradžik, Hrvoje Šošić, Marko Veselica and Vladimir Veselica.
“On this day 50 years ago, the arrests had already begun and the repression of the former state was in full swing. Intellectuals, politicians and students were arrested. Of those people who were decorated today, only three are still alive,” President Milanović said in his address at the ceremony, underscoring that these individuals were rightly decorated but with a great delay.
“Unfortunately, this deed of mine today will not completely fix the picture, because some have again been left out. The decision including this group of good people was made. A few good and right people take part in big undertakings and big processes of historical significance and in this case many more people took part,” said President Milanović. He added that he chose those people who fought wholeheartedly for something that was right, beautiful and noble – who fought for themselves, but not against others. “Not with hatred, but with enthusiasm and motivation. Your history and the history of your families and those who are no longer with us is not the same. History is like that – it rolls, sways, roars, swishes, thunders, rumbles and in the end, when the clouds part, from a distance we come to realize what is good and what is evil,” he said.
“I extend my gratitude and honour to you for being brave in those moments, for forgiving those who were not fair towards you after everything, for getting past it and continuing to live normal lives. You were severely punished. This is a small attempt, a small debt of honour and a token of justice aimed at fixing this. It will never be fixed. People live on, both the victims and those responsible. The Croatian state was created and defended with the will, power, enthusiasm and courage by a small group of people,” President Milanović said in conclusion of his address.
President Milanović personally presented the decorations to Ivan Zvonimir Čičak and Goran Dodig, who attended the ceremony in the Office of the President. The Paradžik family accepted the decoration on behalf of Dražen Budiša, while the posthumous decorations were accepted by the families of those on whom they were conferred. The posthumous decoration awarded to Jozo Ivičević Bakulić was accepted by his son Ivan Ivičević Bakulić; the posthumous decoration awarded to Ljudevit Jonke was accepted by his son Mladen Jonke; the posthumous decoration awarded to Ante Paradžik was accepted by his daughter Veronika Paradžik; the posthumous decoration awarded to Hrvoje Šošić was accepted by his grandson Matija Šošić; the posthumous decoration awarded to Marko Veselica was accepted by his wife Božena Veselica; the posthumous decoration awarded to Vladimir Veselica was accepted by his son Vladislav Veselica.
On behalf of the recipients of the decorations, Ivan Zvonimir Čičak expressed his gratitude and said that this represented the decoration of thousands of people, including their families, who are built into these decorations. “The decoration is a great honour for us, not an obligation, because those times have passed. Those were times that cannot be described. Those were times of enthusiasm for one nation. It was not just a political movement but a period of enthusiasm that awoke under all the burden thrown onto the back of the Croatian people as being genocidal, when any expression of Croatianhood was strictly sanctioned. We did what our heart told us, and then repression followed. On this day 50 years ago, the students were arrested first, and then a group of intellectuals,” said Ivan Zvonimir Čičak, emphasizing that this Croatian dream has become a reality.
Moreover, reflecting on those times, he said that the good thing about the Croatian Spring protagonists was that they were dreamers, although this was also a drawback. “And then comes the discontinuity of the feelings of the Croatian Spring and the 1990s, when sheer reality and not the dreams shaped politics. Then it was proven that our movement was diverse and heterogeneous, because each one of us went their own way in line with their political beliefs,” said Mr. Čičak.
“Our biggest misconception is that we believed that communism could be reformed, but there is no good communism. The ideas of communism and fascism are ideas of evil and we must be aware of that. Despotisms and tyrannies cannot be fixed, they are to be destroyed and that is what happened in the Homeland War. Let us see no more evil in Croatian politics, but as much tolerance, democracy and different bouquets of colourful roses as possible, let there be joy and vibrancy. I want Croatia to be vibrant again, which, among other things, you are articulating in your statements. We have to get used to that – someone thinking bureaucratically, someone thinking feudally, but also someone thinking freely. Long live freedom!,” concluded Ivan Zvonimir Čičak in his address.
Attending the ceremony in the Office of the President alongside President Milanović were the Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic Bartol Šimunić, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić and Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education Jadranka Žarković.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta