{"id":19757,"date":"2022-10-28T15:55:17","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T13:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/?post_type=news&p=19757"},"modified":"2022-10-28T15:55:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T13:55:19","slug":"president-milanovic-in-gospic-croatia-will-never-leave-nato-the-first-task-of-our-army-is-to-defend-the-homeland","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-gospic-croatia-will-never-leave-nato-the-first-task-of-our-army-is-to-defend-the-homeland\/","title":{"rendered":"President Milanovi\u0107 in Gospi\u0107: Croatia will never leave NATO, the first task of our army is to defend the homeland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cYour first capital, sacred duty is to defend Croatia and its borders, its sovereignty, all that makes up a state, the democratic elected government, its residents regardless of ethnic affiliation and faith. Moreover, there is affiliation to joint defense alliances in the collective security system, namely NATO. For years we worked towards Croatia\u2019s membership in NATO and we will never leave it. But, above all to defend the homeland with resources we must use wisely and, God forbid, be ready to act at any moment. Until then we have to live in peace, work and be aware of belonging to an elite organization of which not just anyone can be a member\u201d, President Milanovi\u0107 told the members of \u201cVukovi\u201d (Wolves) in the 9th<\/sup> Guards Brigade barracks \u201cVukovi\u201d in Gospi\u0107, where he attended the ceremony marking the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the formation of the 9th<\/sup> Guards Brigade \u201cVukovi\u201d and the formation of the Motorized battalion \u201cVukovi\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI spent this morning in \u0160iroka Kula at the memorial to the 48 civilians killed in the space of a few days in the fall of 1991. Those people were killed on their doorsteps just because they were members of another ethnic group or faith. The people who committed these murders were convicted, however not all of them. After thirty years I don\u2019t expect this to be talked about every day, but on an important day like today we must talk about this, we must not forget this because these victims are embedded in the foundations of the Croatian state. These people disappeared overnight, many were young, women, children. They expected a brighter future, a European Croatia, but did not live to see it\u201d, the President of the Republic continued his address, underlining that the Croatian Army and \u201cVukovi\u201d brought peace, stability and predictability to our state and to those who survived the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Milanovi\u0107 recalled the beginning of the Homeland War when the army had the impossible task of defending the country practically with no weapons and under conditions of an international embargo. \u201cThose people were not just brave but smart too and well organized because in every battle they had to consider the quantity of weapons they had. Something totally different from today\u2019s war in Ukraine\u201d, he said and added that \u201cthe Croatian state, the people, the community of people who live in the same space, within the same borders and who share the common path must be at the centre of everything. \u201cMembership in the European Union and NATO didn\u2019t and won\u2019t change this. You serve the homeland, the Croatian state for which 56 of your friends and fellow combatants and 48 unfortunate civilian Croatian people have fallen in \u0160iroka Kula\u201d, President Milanovi\u0107 concluded his address and added that we must fight for our interests and goals for our protection but surely taking into account and \u201cbeing correct and honest towards others\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the ceremony marking the anniversary of the formation in Gospi\u0107, President Milanovi\u0107 presented berets to three female and fourteen male members of the Motorized Battalion \u201cVukovi\u201d and laid a wreath and lit a candle in front of the memorial to the fallen, missing and deceased members of the 9th<\/sup> Guards Brigade \u201cVukovi\u201d. Attending the wreath-laying ceremony alongside President Milanovi\u0107 were the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Sini\u0161a Jurkovi\u0107, the Commander of the Croatian Army Lieutenant General Boris \u0160eri\u0107, the Commander of the Croatian Army Guards Mechanized Brigade Brigadier General Dra\u017een Ressler, the Adviser to the President for Defense and National Security Dragan Lozan\u010di\u0107, the Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Marekovi\u0107, the Head of the Military Office of the Defense and National Security Cabinet Read Admiral Predrag Stipanovi\u0107 and the Aide-de-Camp to the President Colonel Vlado \u010culina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his arrival in Gospi\u0107, the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 paid tribute to the civilian victims of the Homeland War at a wreath-laying and candle lighting ceremony in front of the memorial in \u0160iroka Kula. Alongside President Milanovi\u0107 were the Mayor of Gospi\u0107 Karlo Star\u010devi\u0107 and the Special Adviser to the President Homeland War Veterans Marijan Marekovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Filip Glas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Milanovi\u0107 attended the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the formation of the 9th Guards Brigade \u201cVukovi\u201d and the formation of the Motorized battalion \u201cVukovi\u201c.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":19739,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-19757","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Milanovi\u0107 in Gospi\u0107: Croatia will never leave NATO, the first task of our army is to defend the homeland - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-gospic-croatia-will-never-leave-nato-the-first-task-of-our-army-is-to-defend-the-homeland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Milanovi\u0107 in Gospi\u0107: Croatia will never leave NATO, the first task of our army is to defend the homeland - 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