President Milanović Tells Cadets at Croatian Defence Academy: Your primary task is to defend Croatian interests
The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović attended an academic promotion ceremony at the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy for cadets of the Military Engineering and Military Leadership and Management undergraduate and graduate university study programmes, where he told the cadets that by choosing the military calling, they chose a difficult and demanding job, which requires great self-discipline and self-control.
“It’s a tough system based on a strict hierarchy, on obeying orders, and it’s not for everyone,” said President Milanović, adding that the cadets have years of work and training ahead of them, during which not everyone will necessarily keep their soldier status, while others will reach the top and become the highest commanders of the future Croatian Army.
“You need to self-improve and constantly work on yourself, to be ready for what you were prepared for – which is waging war, defending the country, protecting its territorial integrity, the constitutional and democratic order in which we live and all those fundamental values of the Croatian Constitution that should be preserved and improved from generation to generation. That is your job. As the ultimate consequence, in the worst case – it is war,” the Croatian President said, emphasizing that it is the task of Croatian politicians to do everything so that the coming years will be years of peace when it will not be necessary for the Croatian Army and Croatian soldiers to put their lives on the line in the performance of their duties.
Congratulating the promoted and awarded cadets, President Milanović told them to progress and mercilessly work on themselves, and expressed hope that the system and the state will enable them to associate, network and work with those who may be better than us, have more and are larger. “Those are our allies, the Western camp, NATO,” he clarified and said: “However, your primary task is to defend Croatian interests, its views on the world. You are the successors, until a year ago, of the only fighting generation on the territory of Europe, young people who had to defend their country with weapons. No other modern European nation in the late 20th century went through such a calvary, through such self-realization, only the Croatian Army and partially the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
At the end of his address, the President made comments about the war in Ukraine. “A year ago, everything turned around and now we are looking at something terrible, something that we cannot ignore and cannot turn our heads from, but also something that we will not be part of. We are a small country and we have to be guided by our interests” more than the large countries, President Milanović concluded.
At the academic promotion ceremony, which was organized by the University of Zagreb, a total of 115 members of the 14th and 15th generation of cadets enrolled in graduate studies and the 15th and 16th generation of cadets enrolled in undergraduate studies were promoted. Apart from President Milanović, the diplomas were also presented to the cadets by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Admiral Robert Hranj, Rector of the University of Zagreb Prof. Stjepan Lakušić, Ph. D., and Deputy Commander of the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy Brigadier General Blaž Beretin.
The Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defence and National Security Dragan Lozančić, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education Jadranka Žarković and Head of the Military Office in the Cabinet for Defence and National Security in the Office of the President Rear Admiral Predrag Stipanović were alongside President Milanović.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta