ZAGREB, 4 Aug, 2021 - On the eve of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, War Veterans Day and the central commemoration in Knin, state delegations laid wreaths at Zagreb's central Mirogoj cemetery on Wednesday.

The government delegation was led by Veterans' Minister Tomo Medved and a delegation of the Croatian Parliament was led by Deputy Speaker Željko Reiner.

The delegations laid wreaths at the Wall of Pain monument, the Central Cross in the Alley of Fallen Croatian Homeland War Defenders, the grave of Croatia's first president Franjo Tudjman, and at the common grave of unidentified victims of the 1991-95 war.

Wreaths were also laid by a delegation of President Zoran Milanović, led by his advisor on defence and national security Dragan Lozančić, as well as a delegation of the City of Zagreb, led by deputy mayor Luka Korlaet.

Shortly after that, a delegation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by member of the SDP presidency and MEP Predrag Fred Matic, laid flowers and lit candles at the Wall of Pain monument and the Central Cross in the Alley of Fallen Croatian Homeland War Defenders.

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ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - The 26th anniversary of Operation Storm will be organised in accordance with epidemiological measures and the central celebration will be held at the football stadium in Knin, while the ceremonial part will take place at the Knin Fortress, Veterans' Affairs Minister Tomo Medved said on Tuesday.

Based on guidance from the Croatian Public Health Institute on compliance with coronavirus restrictions, it has been assessed that the Knin stadium is the best place to organise a dignified commemoration of this important date in our recent history while respecting the epidemiological measures, Medved told a press conference after a meeting of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and relevant cabinet ministers with representatives of the association of retired Croatian army generals.

Before the commemoration, senior state officials will lay wreaths in front of the monument to the casualties and the 1991-1995 Homeland War.

Asked whether he expected representatives of the Serb minority to attend, after Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS) attended last year's ceremony, Medved said that an agreement had not yet been reached as to which cabinet members would be attending.

Reporters were also interested in hearing whether anyone from the Croatian Defence Force (HOS), the paramilitary arm of the right-wing Croatian Party of Rights,  would attend, Medved said that the position of the Council for Facing the Past was clear and that all components of the Croatian army and police, as well as associations of Homeland War veterans and casualties, would be invited to attend that important anniversary.

Miljavac: The problem is that young people are being recruited with HOS insignia

The head of the association of retired army generals, Pavao Miljavac, said that the association supports the idea for the commemoration to be held at the stadium due to the COVID-19 situation.

As for HOS's participation in the war, Miljavac said that its members need to be honoured as they went to defend Croatia without any ideology.

"The problem to me is that young people, 19 or 20 year olds,  are again being recruited with HOS insignia," said Miljavac and quoted the late president Franjo Tuđman as saying: "Had we continued down that path, Croatia would hardly have been recognised."

During the meeting, the participants discussed disagreements over the Civilian Casualties of the Homeland War Act.

Miljavac underscored that the minister assured them that the law would be implemented in such a way that it will minimise any possible abuse of the law.

"Strict coordination will be conducted between the Interior Ministry and Croatian defenders. We have a list of who was where - almost 95%, so that it will be strictly implemented, and there shouldn't be any abuse," he said.

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ZAGREB, 4 June 2021 - War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said on Friday the 5 August 1995 Operation Storm would be commemorated across the country but that Knin remained the central place for the Victory Day celebration.

He was commenting on President Zoran Milanović's proposal that this year Victory Day be commemorated in Glina instead of Knin.

Speaking to the press in Petrinja, Medved said 50 towns and municipalities had been financed every year since 2016 where Operation Storm was commemorated, notably in previously occupied areas, adding that the Croatian Army's symbolic victory near Glina had not been forgotten.

That's why, he said, the government and he as the minister of war veterans stand by their position that Operation Storm will continue to be commemorated across the country, but that Knin, as the central point of the victory in the 1991-95 Homeland War, remains the central location for the commemoration.

Medved said Knin was a "symbol of our victory" and that "ours as well as all future generations have the obligation to value that symbol of victory."

Asked "what if veterans and generals propose commemorating at another location," Medved said someone was evidently always looking for a motive for discussions.

He recalled everything the Andrej Plenković cabinet had done for veterans since 2016.

Medved said a big commemoration was held in Glina two years ago and that the commemoration in Knin had been a tradition since 1995. 

He also said that there were 150 mass execution sites and graves in Croatia, including 44 in Sisak-Moslavina County, such as Baćin, the second largest mass grave after Ovčara.

Post-earthquake reconstruction

As head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of last December's earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, he said damaged and unsafe buildings were being demolished and that reconstruction had been stepped up.

He said the Central State Reconstruction and Housing Office had already reconstructed 60 houses, that over 100 were undergoing reconstruction, that studies for the reconstruction of 3,000 would be ready this week, and that contracts for the reconstruction of over 6,000 houses would be signed by 15 July.

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ZAGREB, October 31, 2020 - War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said in Vukovar on Saturday that the eastern city's Water Tower, which was inaugurated on Friday after being renovated, was a symbol of the defence of Vukovar and Croatia today and in the future.

We must all be proud of the completion of its reconstruction, he added.

Medved said the government supported the reconstruction project from the beginning, adopting at a session in Vukovar in 2016 a decision to support the project to whatever extent was necessary and investing more than HRK 20 million in the reconstruction.

"Just as it has been a symbol of Croatian unity until now, I'm confident the Water Tower will be so in the future too. This is a very strong contribution to remembering the suffering and heroic defence of Vukovar," he said after laying a wreath and lighting a candle at the local Homeland War Victims Memorial Cemetery together with Defence Minister Mario Banozic.

Medved said the renovated Water Tower sent a strong message to the Croatian people to build a society of prospects, without forgetting the past or the Homeland War victims.

Meeting on Remembrance Day commemoration next week

Speaking of this year's observance of Homeland War Victims Remembrance Day and Vukovar and Skabrnja Victims Remembrance Day on November 18, he recalled that the government last year proclaimed it a national holiday.

Medved said this year's commemoration was different because the coronavirus pandemic restricted the organisation of all events. He said Vukovar came up with several suggestions and that he convened a meeting for next week, inviting the mayors of Vukovar and Skabrnja as well as the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

Medved said he was confident that after the meeting, they would adopt together a programme adjusted to the epidemiological situation.

Commenting on a bill on civilian Homeland War victims, which is in public consultation, he said it would be put into procedure by the end of the year.

After visiting the Water Towever, Medved said it was "full of symbolism and I believe that it will be for future generations what it was in the Homeland War and during the reconstruction, a symbol of unity, strength, security and prospects."

The renovated Vukovar Water Tower was inaugurated on Friday night, without the presence of the public due to the pandemic. Reconstruction lasted three and a half years and cost HRK 46 million. It is a memorial to the suffering of Vukovar and its people in 1991 during the aggression by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serb paramilitaries.

(€1 = HRK 7.57)