President Milanović Tells Military School Students: Defend the Constitution, the Holy Writing of the Croatian State, and Croatian Laws
The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović attended the graduation ceremony of the students of the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy military schools.
One hundred and thirty-four students of the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy military schools received their diplomas. In his address President Milanović congratulated them, and expressed pleasure that among the graduates there are our friends from neighbouring countries. “You get a military education where you are warmly welcomed and where you feel good. Our friends, Slovenians, students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, NATO members and non-members, allies, friends, neighbours. You should first be congratulated, but you have to develop yourselves continuously. It’s never over, one always has to work on oneself”, President Milanović told them.
He noted that the military school has raised its standards in the last twenty years and that the whole system has improved. “You have heard and will frequently hear the American phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. I can’t think of a more inappropriate and more erroneous thought to apply to you, to the army. Indeed, keep fixing and improving constantly, even when talking about the school, the equipment and this building”, President Milanović stated.
The President said that the Decision to Establish a Defence and Security School was a brave and major one, and that in the approach to this problem and challenge one should be cool-headed and with one’s feet on the ground. “Not only is it expensive, but it is very demanding, and we, and I as Commander in Chief, want the standards to be very high. That it isn’t just another university pro forma, but that the most qualified teachers from Croatia, and not only Croatia but first of all from Croatia teach. That’s why I’m stressing that this will be a difficult task, how serious it will be and that the Croatian Government has raised the bar. I wish the best to this school, that it has a long life, but it won’t happen overnight”, President Milanović stated.
He congratulated the many students of the military schools, and concluded: “Besides being faithful and dedicated to the homeland or the homeland you come from, defend the Constitution, the holy writing of the Croatian state, Croatian laws and in the work where a lot of it is prescribed, yet not everything is written. May the starry sky above you and the moral and human law within you be your guide”.
The graduation ceremony was attended by the envoy of the Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mario Banožić, the envoy of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament and Member of the Croatian Parliament Ante Deur, and the Chief of the General Staff Admiral Robert Hranj. Accompanying President Milanović were the Adviser to the President for Defence and National Security Dragan Lozančić and the Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić