and by top state delegations \u2013 the President of the Republic as Supreme Commander of the Croatian Armed Forces Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovi\u0107, the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Bo\u017eo Petrov, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Damir Krsti\u010devi\u0107, the Minister of the Interior Vlaho Orepi\u0107, the Minister of the Veterans’ Affairs Tomo Medved, the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces General Mirko \u0160undov and the i Chief Police Director Marko Srdarevi\u0107, the delegations of the Croatian Armed Forces, of the Ministry of the Interior, and of the local self-government.
The delegations laid wreaths and lighted candles at the Memorial Monument to Josip Jovi\u0107, and the Croatian Military Ordinary, Mons. Jure Bogdan recited a prayer for policeman Jovi\u0107 and all others fallen in the defence of Croatia.
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovi\u0107 in her address underlined the importance of the Plitvice Lakes incident in the Homeland War and the symbolic value of Josip Jovi\u0107 for all Croatian defenders.\u201cThe Plitvice action demonstrated the togetherness, the self- confidence, determination and a clear purpose. the virtues we need today as well\u201c.
The Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Bo\u017eo Petrov said the Bloody Easter 1991 heralded the heavy struggle for freedom and independence. The commemoration 26 years on is a day of pride and of sadness, commemorating the first Croatian victim of the struggle. The heroes as Josip Jovi\u0107 laid their lives into the foundation of our young country\u201c, said the Speaker.
The Defence Minister Damir Krsti\u010devi\u0107 stated that \u201cJosip Jovi\u0107 and the Croatian defenders demonstrated the true way to defend one’s homeland. There would be no\u00a0 achievements, no present and no future of Croatia without their patriotism and sacrifice. Remembering our experience from the 1990ies we have decided to protect and build a better Croatia, which was a dream of our fallen friends\u201c.
Expressing the pride over having the fallen policeman’s nephew (bearing the same name) serving in the victorious Croatian military as voluntary conscript, Minister Krsti\u010devi\u0107 said it was an example of the \u201cpreservation of the values of the Homeland War, nurturing of patriotism and of the unique Croatian victorious spirit\u201c.
The Minister of the Interior Vlaho Orepi\u0107 said the commemoration was a way of paying respects to the first Croatian victim, to other participants and all other Croatian defenders and families for their sacrifice.
Stjepan Cifrek, the participant of the action, now a retired officer of the Croatian Armed Forces shared his memories of the day. \u201cThe action was succesful but we lost Josip in the fighting line, the symbolic first victim of the War\u201c.\u00a0
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A ceremony marking the 26th anniversary of the Plitvice lakes incident and the first victim of the Homeland War \u2013 policeman Josip Jovi\u0107 \u2013 was held on 31 March 2017, attended by the family members, friends and fellow combatants of the fallen policeman.,and other participants of the campaign,\u00a0 the representatives of the associations from the Homeland War<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4698,"featured_media":35860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n