ZAGREB, June 26, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Tuesday evening held a reception on the occasion of Statehood Day, celebrated on 25 June throughout the country, and on that occasion, the head of state underscored that she firmly believed in the future of Croatia which "has great people, and the nation with many virtues which are demonstrated when it is most essential and necessary."
"Long live our only and eternal Homeland Croatia!" she said and then specified some of tasks which should be done to ensure the further development of the country.
The president says that the demographic issue is the issue of all issues, which cannot be resolved by one generation but that it requires systematic, comprehensive and persistent action of all social stakeholders from the politics, economic life, culture and religious communities.
"I do not doubt that we will resolve that issue. We have already achieved many epochal successes in a high number of fields," the president said.
In reference to 25 June 1991 when the Croatian parliament adopted the constitutional decision and declaration on Croatia's independence and sovereignty, the president said that "the adoption of the Constitutional Decision on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Croatia and the Declaration on the Proclamation of the Sovereign and Independent Republic of Croatia not only marked the ultimate State-legal severing of ties with the republics of the former State (Yugoslavia), but also Croatia’s departure from its centuries-old attachment to complex State communities."
"At last, the name of the Croatian State is forever inscribed on the political map of the world," she emphasises.
Grabar-Kitarović says that Croatia remembers, with utmost respect, its first president Franjo Tuđman who decisively led the Croatian people in the creation of an independent state in complex internal and international circumstances.
Despite the fact that democratically elected authorities in Croatia provided constitutional guarantees for the exercise of human and minority rights, Croatia was exposed to the Great Serbian aggression, she said recalling that the country was defended by the courage of Croatian defenders and the prudent statesmanship of President Tudjman.
Simultaneously, we assisted in the defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in which the Croats are the constituent people, she added
Grabar-Kitarović also says that Croatia's symbols, flag, anthem and other insignia are displayed in centres of international institutions and at sports events, nevertheless, having one's own state is not only pride but also obligation, she added.
In this context she called for unity and for making use of Croatia's potential and advantages.
She also recalled that Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the European Union and NATO, which paves the way for other opportunities such as the project of the Three Seas Initiative.
In attendance were Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and cabinet ministers, representatives of the judicial authorities, high-ranking military officers, and prominent figures from the public life as well as religious dignitaries.
More news about Croatian history can be found in the Politics section.
