President Milanović Pays Tribute to Josip Jović, the First Croatian Defender Killed in the Homeland War
The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović laid a wreath and lit a candle next to the Josip Jović Memorial at Plitvice Lakes, commemorating the 33rd anniversary of Operation Plitvice and the death of police officer Josip Jović, the first Croatian defender killed in the Homeland War. Josip Jović died on Easter, 31 March 1991.
The President of the Republic was accompanied by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid, Brigadier General Ivan Raos, Brigadier General Valentin Skroza, Advisers to the President of the Republic Marijan Mareković and Ivica Olujić, and Brigadier General Ivica Kranjčević, all of whom also paid tribute to Josip Jović. Additionally, attending the ceremony alongside the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces were the participants of Operation Plitvice, including the Commander of the Anti-Terrorist Unit Lučko (ATJ) in the Operation Slavko Butorac, and the then Assistant Minister of the Interior and one of the commanders of Operation Plitvice, Marko Lukić, as well as Ljubo Ćesić Rojs.
Operation Plitvice on 31 March 1991 was the Croatian Police’s response to the occupation of Plitvice Lakes National Park and the blockade of the D1 national highway, which transverses the north and south of the country. On that day, in the early morning hours, the Ministry of the Interior’s forces started to move on the main road towards the Jezero Hotel, where their vehicles were ambushed by rebel Serbs. In the attack, 22-year-old Josip Jović, a member of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior’s Special Purpose Unit from Rakitje, was killed, and nine police officers were wounded. The conflict lasted several hours, after which the rebels were forced to retreat.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas