President Milanović: Nobody can deny Croatia the unquestionable right to decide on its own about its moves
“States that think of themselves and of their interests have the indisputable and unquestionable right to have the last say in terms of their moves, to be asked what they will do and how they will act in certain situations. This is a right that nobody can and will not deny to Croatia, be it called sovereignism or common sense “, the President of the Republic and Commander in chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović stated at a presentation ceremony of first officer’s ranks to cadets and students of the Basic Officer Training – Medical Services at the “Dr. Franjo Tuđman” Defence Academy in Zagreb.
“To a certain extent politically and in terms of security, small countries always depend in some way on others, on the alliances they make and on the commitments they assume. So Croatia chose the NATO alliance, to which I dedicated the first years of my intensive diplomatic service as one of the first, in fact the first in Croatian diplomacy and for several years. And I know what it is, it is good for Croatia and the only path. But we have to be aware and constantly ask questions – without losing the human and allied loyalty that must be a constant, we must constantly keep an eye on developments around us,” President Milanović added.
President Milanović congratulated the cadets on their first officer’s ranks and thanked them for choosing to serve in the Croatian Army: “You made your choice, I’m sure you’ve thought it through well when you made this decision, which I can only applaud. The more qualified and quality soldiers loyal to Croatia within the framework of our needs and possibilities, the better”.
He was especially pleased to see a significant number of naval officers at the awarding of officer’s ranks. “Every state has land and air, but not every state has a sea, especially a sea like ours. It is part of our identity, what makes us who we are, what made us who we are for centuries and what we must remain. This is our identity and we have a huge job ahead of us in equipping the Croatian Navy in accordance with our needs, which should be judged rationally. This procedure has barely started and I believe that we will rely on our own strength as much as possible”, President Milanović said.
In his address to the soldiers, he also talked about the need to equip the Croatian Army, mentioning the announced purchase of new tanks. “It is good that this is being done, but we must state that the equipment is extremely expensive, unbelievably and inexplicably expensive, and that we rely on a very limited number of suppliers, since we do not have our own. We cannot afford everything we would like and we will never be able to in such conditions, but we need to be calculated in some things and selfish and think very carefully before every decision because they are long-term”, he said in terms of equipping the Croatian Armed Forces.
Furthermore, he reiterated that “the introduction of mandatory military service should also be discussed seriously”. “Our reserves are made up of people who are getting old, on average people who are almost 50 years old. Without people, without soldiers – there is no army. This is best seen today in Ukraine. It is something that the army must have, without it the army does not exist. And that’s why we need to talk about reintroducing mandatory military service, as far as possible within the constitutional framework. Because the Constitution places very strong restrictions, it is a conscientious objection that cannot be deleted from the Constitution. But, a sufficient number of people should be motivated to get an education, so that they can be reserves. Without reserves, both the Leopards and Rafales make much less sense”, President Milanović said, warning that the reintroduction of mandatory military service “cannot be a political or a party issue”.
The President of the Republic and Commander in chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović issued a Decision on awarding first officer’s ranks of the Croatian Armed Forces to a total of 21 new officers including 15 cadets of the 17th and 18th generations and 6 students of the Basic Officer’s Training – Medical Services.
In the presence of the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid and family members of the new officers, President Milanović awarded the rank of Second Lieutenant of the Croatian Armed Forces to Mirko Barešić, Tony Di Carev Žnidarec, Mateo Milaković, Nikolina Tolj, Ivan Karoglan, Ivan Kavelj, Marko Kegalj, Hrvoje Lovrić, Duje Relja, Luka Čondrić, Niko Mažar, Petra Drašković, Angelo Bašić, Ivan Buljan and Karlo Ušljebrka, the rank of First Lieutenant Medical Services of the Croatian Armed Forces to Ivan Krivak, the rank of Second Lieutenant Medical Services to Dorotea Jurković and Ana Mačvanin, the rank of Second Lieutenant Medical Services – Military specialist to Robert Degač and the rank of Major Medical Services of the Croatian Armed Forces to Milijana Danilović and Ana Kopić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta