President Milanović Thanks Retired Officers for Their Service and Tells Them: We should strive to avoid storms and tempests
“We should strive to avoid these storms and tempests, so that geography is no longer a curse for us, as it has been for centuries, but rather an advantage. But that will depend on us – on our intellect, our reasoning, and how much we invest not only in technical knowledge but also in humanistic understanding and the dynamics of relationships between people and nations, because none of that is simple,” said the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović, addressing retired senior officers of the Croatian Armed Forces at a formal reception held to mark their retirement.
Thanking the retired senior officers for their honourable and loyal service, President Milanović added: “You carry with you a wealth of experience, marked by productive and dedicated service to the homeland – in the most difficult moments and in the decades that followed, when life became somewhat more normal. You are a wartime generation. What you have endured is both your fortune and the burden of a generation, a weight no other generation of officers in Europe has borne in the last 30 or 40 years, with the exception of Ukraine.”
The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces presented officers’ daggers and commendations to retired senior officers of the Croatian Armed Forces in recognition of their honourable and exemplary service, dedicated fulfilment of duty, successful cooperation, collective effort, and personal contribution to the creation and development of the Croatian Armed Forces. Officers’ daggers were awarded to 23 retired senior officers: Admiral Robert Hranj, Rear Admiral Ivo Raffanelli, Brigadier Generals Marinko Galović and Tomislav Galić, Colonels Denis Kovačević, Siniša Šimićev, Mijo Ćubić, Ivica Pavković, Mirko Brcković, Miro Čolić, Vinko Zebić, Sandi Knežević, Andrija Kozina, Stipo Semren, Slobodan Čurčija, Dražen Čovran, Ivan Pervan, Andrija Ramljak, Goran Serenčeš, Renato Paradi, Darijo Klarić, and Captains Damir Poklepović and Darko Malečić.
In addition to receiving the officer’s dagger, Brigadier General Tomislav Galić and Colonels Ivan Pervan and Goran Serenčeš were awarded the Homeland Gratitude Memorial Medal for their honourable and exemplary service.
On behalf of all retired senior officers, Admiral Robert Hranj, former Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, addressed the ceremony, stating that the reception at the Office of the President of the Republic was yet another recognition of their service and contribution to the development of the Armed Forces. “This is a group of people who deserve the utmost respect – individuals who chose to dedicate their professional lives to the military, to the Armed Forces, and to serving and defending their homeland. By this, I also mean their participation in the Homeland War – a war we won, a war in which we liberated our homeland,” said retired Admiral Hranj. He went on to highlight the years of dedicated effort to build a modern Armed Forces in the post-war period, better prepared to face the challenges of peacetime.
“The work of building a stronger, more modern Armed Forces is not finished. We didn’t manage to do everything, and perhaps that work will never truly be complete. The world around us is constantly changing, and we must continuously strengthen and organize the Armed Forces to ensure they are prepared for new and significant security challenges. Our work is done, and behind us comes a new generation of military leaders – a little stronger, more capable, and smarter than we were. I am confident they will carry on where we left off and achieve even greater success in developing the Armed Forces. If they ever feel the need for our experience, knowledge, or advice, we are at their disposal,” concluded Admiral Robert Hranj, former Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces.
Attending the ceremony in the Office of the President of the Republic were the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid; Commander of the Croatian Army, Major General Blaž Beretin; Commander of the Croatian Navy, Commodore Damir Dojkić; Commander of the Croatian Air Force, Major General Michael Križanec; and Commander of the “Dr. Franjo Tuđman” Croatian Defense Academy, Major General Slaven Zdilar.
President Milanović was accompanied by the Head of the Office of the President, Orsat Miljenić; Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defense, Ivica Olujić; Adviser to the President of the Republic for National Security, Dragan Lozančić; Adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans, Marijan Mareković; and Head of the Military Office in the Cabinet for Defense and National Security, Brigadier General Ivica Kranjčević.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta