President Milanović: Forget the stories about someone having to be this or that to love Croatia, I believe that everyone who lives in Croatia loves Croatia

“We are living in a world that is changing and you will serve in that world. You will serve the Croatian Army, you will be professional soldiers. That world in which you will serve and act as Croatian soldiers, first and foremost Croatian soldiers and officers, is unfolding before our eyes; it is a process in which we have little influence, practically no influence at all,” the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces told the new officers of the Armed Forces today after presenting them their first officer’s ranks at a ceremony held in the “Dr. Franjo Tuđman” Defence Academy.

In his address at the presentation ceremony of first officer’s ranks to the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th generations of cadets of the “Dr. Franjo Tuđman” Defence Academy who graduated in the fall term, President Milanović said that the world in which Croatia was created was a different and simpler world “in which Croatia had to build its state on its own”. “Arming ourselves, taking care of ourselves, practically without anybody’s help. Thanks to those who helped us, but it was very little”, he added.

President Milanović indicated that the task of the Croatian Army is to defend the homeland and to serve the interests of the homeland, and that it should not be forgotten that events and decisions made at other higher international levels are very often or almost always without our direct influence. “We have to be loyal and allies in good faith, but also at all times, without any hesitation, to consider the consequences of these decisions on us and whether they are in our best interest. And the final decision will always be ours to make. The final decision is always and only ours. That is the experience the Croatian Army as well as the Croatian state, people and citizens inherit as part of their code“, President Milanović noted. 

President Milanović told the new officers of the Croatian Army that they will administer and command equipment and people, “equipment that we buy on the international market at astronomical costs for profit, not of Croatian citizens and Croatian manufacturers, but of somebody else, our allies”. “Those are the rules of the game we agreed to, there are no others, and we have to be aware of that. We have to be aware that the military is an expensive job and that the state allocates huge funds for combat systems – which I hope, will never be used in combat operations – first of all for people, those who will be under your command, of whom there are fewer and fewer in the army and among us. With such resources and relationships, we are moving into tomorrow. That tomorrow will be beautiful and successful if it is smart, prudent and calculated, and if we repeat to ourselves that we are the only ones who really care about Croatia, that we are the only ones who determine and decide what Croatia will be like“, the President underlined.

“I profoundly believe that Croatia is in the hearts of all those who live in Croatia, every Croatian person, every Croatian citizen, every Croat, and that they love Croatia. Forget the stories about someone having to be this or that to love Croatia, I believe that everyone who lives in Croatia loves Croatia. That’s nonsense. Everyone sitting here, especially those who chose the military calling, all those riding in the tram here on Ilica, they all love Croatia. And those who don’t love Croatia are a minority, and it makes no sense to even talk about them”, President Milanović said.

To the new officers he wished “lots of luck, prudence, wisdom and courage in their work and in their lives, which isn’t an ordinary job, profession, but a way of life, in a way a call of the heart”.

In accordance with the Constitutional and legal powers vested in him, the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović issued a Decision to Award the Active-duty Rank of Ensign of the Croatian Armed Forces to a total of 59 cadets, students of the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th generations.

Receiving the rank of Ensign of the Croatian Armed Forces are: Tina Mandić, Ana Marija Pavlović, Matilda Rašić, Filip Jakob Bošnjaković, Matija Gereč, Domagoj Hlevnjak, David Ivanko, Eduard Krajačić, Luka Matković, Borna Mihelčić, Ivan Pavlović, Jan Per, Leo Varat, Mario Zajc, Bartol Bušić, Josip Čalušić,  Josip Kiš, Ivan Kodrić, Matea Antea Bilobrk, Irina Ćućić, Dorotea Đerđa, Ivana Soldić, Jerko Eremut, Ante Kamber, Marin Medvidović, Branimir Žderić, Marta Lalić, Anja Soldić, Ivan Banović, Leon Majstorić, Gabrijel Matanović, Anđelko Potrebica, Mario Rodin, Marta Piškor, Jure Maglić, Ante Denona, Luka Grdešić, Ivona Krnjić, Ines Lukin, Dominik Nebes, Vladimir Sambolec, Tihomir Tatomirović, Katarina Krešan, Ines Leskovar, Mia Modrić, Anamarija Žanić, Ilija Ivanović, Bože Jolić, Ivan Keser, Robert Levaković, Patrick Lukačević, Filip Malenica, Martin Roglić, Mario Simić, Sven Vukić, Kristina Vragović, Ante Bojčić, Marin Križanić, Marko Svaguša.

Congratulating the new officers of the Croatian Armed Forces besides President Milanović were the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid and the Commander of the “Dr. Franjo Tuđman” Defence Academy Major General Slaven Zdilar.

Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Defence Ivica Olujić, the Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković, the Head of the Military Office in the Cabinet for Defence and National Security of the Office of the President Brigadier General Ivica Kranjčević and the Aide-de-camp to the President Colonel Vlado Čulina.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek