The President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 paid tribute to the Croatian defenders and civilians of the Promina region who lost their lives during the Homeland War. He laid a wreath at the Central Cross in Oklaj, in the Municipality of Promina, and attended a commemoration marking the Memorial Day for the fallen defenders and civilians of the Promina region in the Homeland War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to President Milanovi\u0107, those attending the commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony included Tihomir Budanko, Head of the Municipality of Promina; Davorka Broni\u0107, President of the Promina Municipal Council; retired General Rahim Ademi; representatives of the Croatian Parliament, \u0160ibenik-Knin County, and other towns and municipalities in the county; representatives of the families of those killed and missing from the Promina region; Croatian defenders and representatives of Homeland War veterans\u2019 associations from the area. Apart from the President of the Republic, wreaths were also laid by Hrvoje Zekanovi\u0107, Member of the Croatian Parliament and delegate of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament; Nenad Tisaj, Deputy County Prefect of \u0160ibenik-Knin County; Tihomir Budanko, Head of the Municipality of Promina; delegations from the towns of \u0160ibenik, Knin and Drni\u0161 and the Municipality of Une\u0161i\u0107; representatives of Homeland War veterans\u2019 associations; and a Croatian veteran from the Municipality of Promina. President Milanovi\u0107 was accompanied by Marijan Marekovi\u0107, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the commemoration, President Milanovi\u0107 also attended a ceremonial session of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Promina, held to mark the 143rd<\/sup> anniversary of the municipality\u2019s establishment. In his address, President Milanovi\u0107 recalled the defenders and civilians from the Promina region who were killed during the Homeland War. He spoke in particular about the civilian victims, stressing that they \u201cwere completely innocent and unsuspecting victims,\u201d which made their murder all the more horrific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur policy is uncompromising when it comes to human values and our national interests. There are no dogmas here. There is judgment, assessment, calculation, but also self-interest. State affairs are conducted with self-interest in mind. We know what it looked like when Croatia was led by unyielding people from the left and the right \u2013 Bolsheviks and Hitler\u2019s allies. That kind of consistency and exclusivity in politics and in a country\u2019s relations with others is not good,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 said at the session of the Promina Municipal Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stressed that \u201cfor the first time in modern history, as a nation and a country, we are all together within a system that we ourselves chose,\u201d and that Croatia now has the opportunity \u201cto reap the benefits to which we are entitled because of our geographic position.\u201d \u201cGeography determines everything, and that is why we should make no reckless pledges and no grand promises to anyone \u2013 except the promise that we will behave like people. But when making decisions, we must look first and foremost to our own interests, while taking care not to stab our allies in the back. Such a Croatia \u2013 its own master, on its own soil \u2013 is, I am convinced, the Croatia that everyone who has mattered in our history would have stood for and endorsed,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope the days when we as a nation were divided over major issues are behind us forever. There will always be times when we talk, disagree and even argue. That will not change, but we must debate these issues and remain decent people,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The President said that he \u201cdoes not like divisions between East and West\u201d and that \u201cChristians should be Christians.\u201d \u201cI am more inclined to see human values as Christian values in the broadest sense because this is a Christian continent. Europe is a Christian continent, Croatia is a Christian country. These are the traditions that unite this continent. And they are also \u2013 in my view \u2013 the only true, deep and enduring human values that connect us from Portugal to Finland,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet us stand by our own and respect what belongs to others. Let us not indulge in fantasies about some supranational entity that will govern us all. Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B \u2013 Vienna [Be\u010d<\/em>], Berlin, Budapest and Belgrade \u2013 wasn’t good. Brussels may be better than Belgrade, but let us think about where our heart is, where our mind is, and where our interests lie,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Ana Marija Kati\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cLet us stand by our own and respect what belongs to others. Let us not indulge in fantasies about some supranational entity that will govern us all. Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B \u2013 Vienna [Be\u010d], Berlin, Budapest and Belgrade \u2013 wasn’t good. Brussels may be better than Belgrade, but let us think about where our heart is, where our mind is, and where our interests lie,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44167,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-44168","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
![<\/a>\n \n \n](\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8429-1024x731.jpg\"\n){kind=link}
![<\/a>\n \n \n](\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8519-1024x576.jpg\"\n){kind=link}
![<\/a>\n \n \n](\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8719-1024x576.jpg\"\n){kind=link}
![<\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\nPHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Ana Marija Kati\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLet us stand by our own and respect what belongs to others. Let us not indulge in fantasies about some supranational entity that will govern us all. Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B \u2013 Vienna [Be\u010d], Berlin, Budapest and Belgrade \u2013 wasn’t good. Brussels may be better than Belgrade, but let us think about where our heart is, where our mind is, and where our interests lie,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44167,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-44168","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn't good - 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-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/\" \/>\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 Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn't good - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cLet us stand by our own and respect what belongs to others. Let us not indulge in fantasies about some supranational entity that will govern us all. Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B \u2013 Vienna [Be\u010d], Berlin, Budapest and Belgrade \u2013 wasn't good. Brussels may be better than Belgrade, but let us think about where our heart is, where our mind is, and where our interests lie,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 concluded.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T14:09:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8719-1024x576.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/\",\"name\":\"President Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn't good - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/DSC_8719.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T14:07:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-23T14:09:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/DSC_8719.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/DSC_8719.jpg\",\"width\":3239,\"height\":1823,\"caption\":\"Predsjednik Republike Zoran Milanovi\u0107 polo\u017eio je vijenac hrvatskim braniteljima i civilima prominskog kraja koji su poginuli tijekom Domovinskog rata.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vijesti\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"President Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn’t good\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"President Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn't good - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"President Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn't good - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","og_description":"\u201cLet us stand by our own and respect what belongs to others. Let us not indulge in fantasies about some supranational entity that will govern us all. Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B \u2013 Vienna [Be\u010d], Berlin, Budapest and Belgrade \u2013 wasn't good. Brussels may be better than Belgrade, but let us think about where our heart is, where our mind is, and where our interests lie,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 concluded.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/","og_site_name":"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","article_modified_time":"2026-07-23T14:09:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8719-1024x576.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/","url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/","name":"President Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn't good - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8719.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-23T14:07:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-23T14:09:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8719.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8719.jpg","width":3239,"height":1823,"caption":"Predsjednik Republike Zoran Milanovi\u0107 polo\u017eio je vijenac hrvatskim braniteljima i civilima prominskog kraja koji su poginuli tijekom Domovinskog rata."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-in-promina-croatias-experience-with-centres-of-power-beginning-with-the-letter-b-has-not-been-good\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vijesti","item":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"President Milanovi\u0107 in Promina: Croatia\u2019s experience with centres of power beginning with the letter B wasn’t good"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/","name":"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-cat?post=44168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC_8909-1024x576.jpg\"\n){kind=link}