President Milanović Decorates Voluntary Blood Donors: This is the noblest gift by which selfless people give a part of themselves to save someone’s life
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović presented today, on World Blood Donor Day, the decoration Order of the Croatian Star with the effigy of Katarina Zrinska to voluntary blood donors in 2019, for the noble and humanitarian deed of donating blood more than a hundred times for men and seventy-five times for women.
“Ladies and gentlemen, dear donors, welcome to the Office of the President! Today it will be a special honour and pleasure for me to award and decorate, on behalf of the Croatian state and Republic, a group of selfless people who are literally giving away a part of themselves so that someone unknown is cured or a life is saved. This is the noblest kind of giving and donating because it is not accompanied by pomp, by fame, by news, it is not accompanied by anything public; it is fully private and comes with the feeling that you have done a good deed. Again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here and I am honoured for the opportunity to decorate you during this period in which I am the President of the Republic. Given that today is the 14th of June, World Blood Donor Day, I congratulate you and wish you many more days like this,” President Milanović said at the ceremony in the Office of the President, where he presented the decorations.
The decoration Order of the Croatian Star with the effigy of Katarina Zrinska was received by the following 77 voluntary blood donors, out of the 195 decorated donors for the year 2019: Vladimir Alkić, Ivan Antunović, Željko Bajić, Branimir Bajs, Ivica Bartol, Ivan Beluhan, Željko Benko, Ivan Biškupić, Branka Bogdanović, Bernard Bračić, Branko Brcković, Dražen Brlić, Robert Cerovečki, Josip Cesar, Milenko Crljen, Mario Daražić, Slavko Đuras, Aleksandar Ekart, Zvonimir Franić, Zlatan Glogolja, Slavko Golić, Branko Habus, Mladen Hađina, Ivica Harmicar, Darko Hitrec, Krešo Hitrec, Rudolf Horvatić, Mirko Hrenar, Jasenko Kardum, Zoran Kerekeš, Ivica Keseg, Zdenko Klanfar, Vlado Koprivičanec, Vesna Köstner, Josip Krajačić, Ivica Krajnović, Milivoj Kralj, Ivan Krobot, Đani Krstić, Anto Kuprešak, Dragan Kurtin, Marko Livajić, Matija Maček, Josip Malenica, Ivanka Marijić, Branko Marković, Marin Martinjak, Josip Matleković, Božidar Metić, Zoran Mihalj, Marko Mikić, Predrag Narančić, Marko Novak, Željko Parlov, Danijel Paska, Josip Pavlić, Marko Piškorec, Vladimir Plantak, Dragutin Poljanec, Krešo Radovanić, Krešo Risek, Nebojša Skočaj, Ljiljana Sovar, Dubravko Stipanček, Igor Strbad, Ismet Sulejmanagić, Franjo Špoljarić, Božo Teskera, Slobodan Tošić, Dubravko Ulama, Darko Vinogradac, Stjepan Vlahek, Mario Vranjić, Tonći Zaller, Ivan Zore, Josip Žmegač, Stanko Žmuk. The remaining donors who were decorated for 2019 received their decorations at a ceremony in May.
Voluntary blood donor Igor Strbad spoke on behalf of the recipients. He thanked President Milanović for the decorations and said that since the ceremony was held on World Blood Donor Day, the President has made this a day to remember. He added that the fact that they saved many lives and returned smiles on many faces with their humanitarian deed brings joy and fulfilment to all voluntary blood donors.
At the ceremony in the Office of the President were the President of the Croatian Red Cross Josip Jelić, Executive President Robert Markt and Director of the Croatian Institute of Transfusion Medicine Irena Jukić. The President of the Croatian Red Cross said he feels the fulfilment of the soul because donating blood is an unprecedented act. “It is an act in which you perform the highest possible act of philanthropy, completely impartially. The meaning of the life of every blood donor is in philanthropy, because he does not know to whom he is giving blood,” said the President of the Croatian Red Cross Josip Jelić.
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 were alongside President Milanović.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta, Dario Andrišek