The reception was also attended by Deputy Speaker and Acting Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Josip Leko and Prime Minister Zoran Milanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n
“Dear friends, first of all veterans, heroes of the Homeland War, it is honour and pleasure to be with you today. As Commander-in-Chief sometimes I am impressed by the fact that under the Constitution I also command to those that are the big heroes and big winners of the war. In time of war, especially during the Storm you were primarily soldiers, heroes and victors”, the President said in his address and emphasized that today no matter what job do they do, they have one thing in common – unconditional love for their Homeland. He expressed his appreciation of their work and to what they did during the Homeland War.<\/p>\n
“Your victory during the Storm Operation was written in the memory of the Croatian people”, said the Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Josip Leko when addressing the soldiers and urged all to continue to build a fellowship which was crucial for success. “It is important to achieve common goals, the better life of Croatian citizens, in unity”, Leko said.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovi\u0107 also thanked the defenders for all they did during the Homeland War.<\/p>\n
A Holly Mass for the soldiers was served by the Military Ordinary Juraj Jezerinac in the Knin fortress in the Church of St. Barbara.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon at the Knin stadium NK Dinara, a football game was played as part of the humanitarian action Croatian Heart for Knin. Veterans of the 4th<\/sup> and 7th<\/sup> Guard Brigade played against music stars CRO UNUM in which the President Ivo Josipovic also played. “It is important that sports stars and celebrities once again decided to do something good, humane”, the President said and thanked all the participants of the match, the visitors and spectators who participated in this charity event.<\/p>\n Just before the start of the soccer match, the European Union Head of Delegation in Croatia Paul Vandoren was presented with a special recognition plaque of the town of Knin. When thanking, the Vandoren said that was for him a great honour and recognition.<\/p>\n On the occasion of the Victory and Homeland Gratitude Day and the Day of Croatian defenders today, August 4, President Ivo Josipovi\u0107, Defence Minister Ante Kotromanovi\u0107, Interior Minister Ranko Ostoji\u0107 and Minister of Veterans Predrag Mati\u0107 organized a ceremonial reception in the Knin fortress for war commanders and participants of the Storm Operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37712,"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-6685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n[nggallery id=897]<\/h2>\n
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