President Milanović Receives Delegation of the 1991 Command of the Defense of the City of Dubrovnik on the Eve of Dubrovnik Defenders Day
On the eve of Dubrovnik Defenders Day observed on 6 December, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović received a delegation of the 1991 Command of the defense of the City of Dubrovnik.
In the delegation of the 1991 Command of the defense of the City of Dubrovnik were the deputy commander of the defense of the City of Dubrovnik and head of SIS (Sigurnosno-informativna služba – Security Information Service) South battlefield retired LTC Ivo Šimunović, assistant commander for Logistics retired LTC Tonći Bačić, head of the Medical Corps of the Command of the defense of the City of Dubrovnik retired LTC Vicko Mihaljević, commander of the 163rd Brigade retired Staff Brigadier Ivan Varenina, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 163rd Brigade retired LTC Eduard Čengija, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 163rd Brigade retired MAJ Krešimir Klarić, commander of the “Grof” Special Police Force of the Dubrovnik Police Department and retired CPT Ile Topuzović, and retired Dubrovnik Police Department senior inspector, and the commander of the ’91 defense of Konavle Ante Vulić.
They reminded President Milanović of the difficult circumstances and conditions in which the defense of Dubrovnik was organized in 1991, and the defense and subsequent liberation of the Dubrovnik littoral. In their words, Dubrovnik was defended in 1991 by slightly more than 700 Croatian defenders. They are especially proud of the fact that the enemy never entered the city, which remained free during the entire Homeland War. Members of the 1991 Command of the defense of the City of Dubrovnik highlighted that the liberating operation of the Dubrovnik littoral was one of the first major liberating operations in the Homeland War, and in their view, it should be given a more significant place in the history of the Homeland War.
On 6 December 1991, after peace negotiations failed, the aggressor led by the so-called Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), launched a devastating attack on Dubrovnik. Just that day more than 600 shells struck the heart of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. All major buildings were damaged, the most damaged were the Franciscan monastery, the famous Stradun main street, the Dominican monastery and the Sponza Palace. Nine palaces were completely destroyed by fire. In the city districts of Ploče, Pile, Gruž and Lapad more than seventy cultural monuments were damaged. Multiple civilian and business buildings were devastated. During the attacks on Dubrovnik 19 persons were killed and more than 60 were injured.
Alongside President Milanović was the Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan