President Milanović in Kalnik: Croatia must be its own boss and have confidence in itself 

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended a special session of the Municipality of Kalnik Municipal Council, where he extended congratulations to the residents on the occasion of Municipality Day, telling them to continue their journey as a small, successful community and to use every euro available from EU funds, but also to preserve the Croatian identity.

“Not a single country has developed from EU funds to the point of becoming [as affluent as] Austria and that will not happen to us either, but it should be our goal. Croatia should remain Croatia and keep its identity,” said President Milanović.

In his address at the ceremony, President Milanović commented on the administrative division of Croatia, saying there were proposals to abolish municipalities since their very inception. “It is a good form of self-government, it has nothing to do with which party is in power, nor does it particularly favour any party. Municipalities should not be touched,” said the President, underscoring that municipalities and towns in Croatia are well-organized.

The “Kalnički jaglac” preschool children and Kalnik Primary School pupils participated in the ceremony programme held on the occasion of Municipality Day. They performed several traditional songs in the Kajkavian language. President Milanović said he deeply respects teachers, professors and all others who work with children in order to prevent the local language from being forgotten.

“When I hear about children being taught and speaking their native language, it always bothers me when it is called a dialect because it sounds like something flawed. It is a special language of its own that defies the encroachment of the official language. This is about protecting your soul and what makes you who you are. Because, when we all start to speak in the same way, we will become a vast mass,” said President Milanović, explaining that we must protect our diversity.

“Deep respect, hats off to those who work with children and teach children in order to not allow this to fall into oblivion. It is more important than the European Union and EU funds. Both the European Union and NATO are auxiliary means for this country to become what it wanted to become – its own, self-confident boss, confident of where it came from, not standing in anyone’s way and without any fear in the face of new challenges and on the new path it sets for itself. No one else, not even Brussels – or formerly Belgrade, Pest, Vienna – it is just us on our own turf,” President Milanović concluded.

Speaking at the special session apart from President Milanović were the President of the Kalnik Municipal Council Olinka Gjigaš, Head of the Municipality of Kalnik Mladen Kešer, Deputy Koprivnica-Križevci County Prefect Ratomir Ljubić, Krapina-Zagorje County Prefect Željko Kolar and the Mayor of Novi Marof Siniša Jenkač.

Adviser to the President of the Republic for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić was alongside President Milanović.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan