ZAGREB, October 7, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Monday congratulated Croatian citizens on Independence Day, observed on October 8, saying that over the past 28 years many things had been achieved, "we have demonstrated that no goal is unreachable if we are committed to it."
In her congratulations, the president said Independence Day honoured parliament’s historic decision on Croatia's final and irrevocable independence. Every Croatian patriot is proud and grateful to all known and unknown individuals who made sacrifices for this historic goal, she added.
"Today, Croatia is a State that is known and respected... We know and sense that we can do more and better for Croatia. We wish to create a society and a State tailored to the needs of the Croatian man. I believe that we shall succeed because I believe in the Croatian people, because I believe in Croatia."
Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Monday issued a message for Independence Day, which is observed on October 8, saying that the future of Croatia depends on its citizens and that Croatia can be a country each Croatian citizen will be proud of.
October 8, 1991 will remain forever written in Croatian history as the day when the Croatian parliament decided to sever constitutional and legal ties with the other republics and provinces of the Yugoslav federation, he said.
"With this decision, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutional Decision on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Croatia, which the Croatian Sabor adopted on June 25, 1991, Croatia became a sovereign, autonomous and independent state, setting in motion the process of international recognition.
"With these acts the Croatian Sabor confirmed the long-running aspirations of the Croatian people to build their future in a free, sovereign, autonomous, independent, democratic and pluralist Croatia. For such a Croatia, many Croatian defenders and their families, patriotically and honourably, made great sacrifices in the Homeland War and for that we will forever be grateful to them," Jandroković wrote.
"Today, as we strengthen the future of our homeland, we must be aware that it depends on ourselves alone, on our self-awareness, strength, patriotism, determination, responsibility and harmony. With this awareness, and with coordinated action between citizens and all levels of government, Croatia can permanently move forward and be a country of which each Croatian citizen will be proud," Jandroković said.
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