Minister of Defence Ivan Anušić congratulated the 31st anniversary of the Maslenica military and police operation

“Dear Croatian war veterans,

Dear family members of the fallen deceased and missing Croatian veterans,
Dear members of the Croatian Armed Forces,
Dear Croatian citizens and our compatriots abroad,
At dawn on 22 January 1993, war operations began as part of the Maslenica military and police operation, which liberated the Zadar hinterland and reconnected the north and south of Croatia with a quickly built pontoon bridge in Novsko Ždrilo.

Today we celebrate the 31st anniversary of that important operation, which was carried out jointly by the Croatian Armed Forces and members of the Ministry of the Interior and which was the introduction to the new victorious actions of the Croatian Armed Forces – Operations Flash and Storm. Maslenica military and police operation was tactically particularly demanding because parts of the Velebit mountain had to be conquered, and anyone who has ever met this proud giant knows that it is particularly cruel in winter.

Today we also remember all fallen Croatian war veterans who, unfortunately, did not live to see the end of the Homeland War and the creation of the free and independent Croatia. We will never forget them.

The motivation of those who defend their homeland is always stronger than those who want to conquer it, and that is why we managed to defeat the numerically superior occupying forces during the war years. Today we are building modern and powerful Armed Forces, we are part of the NATO alliance, we have rights and obligations.

Along with modernisation of the Croatian Armed Forces, the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Defence simultaneously take care of every soldier, non-commissioned officer and officer. The main goal is to improve their substantive rights and ensure a better standard of living. Being a soldier is not a job, it is a vocation.

Anniversaries like Maslenica remind us time and again that freedom has no price and that Croatia was created in heavy combats of the Homeland War owing to war veterans who did not lose hope even in the most difficult stages of the war.

That is why I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart on the thirty-first anniversary of the Maslenica military and police operation and may God protect us all”.