The President’s Envoy Lays Wreaths at Battle of Sutjeska Monument and at Second Dalmatian Brigade Monument in Donje Bare
On the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Sutjeska, the Head of the Office of the President of the Republic and Adviser to the President of the Republic for Foreign and European Policy Orsat Miljenić, as President Zoran Milanović’s envoy, laid wreaths and lit candles at the Monument to the Battle of Sutjeska in Tjentište and at the Monument to the Fallen Fighters of the Second Dalmatian Brigade in Donje Bare.
The head of the Croatian Alliance of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists (SABA) Franjo Habulin and the head of the Alliance of Associations of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists of Split-Dalmatia County Juraj Krstulović were present in the delegation alongside the Head of the Office of the President of the Republic.
“An enormous number of our citizens were killed here while fighting for freedom and it is quite appropriate to pay them tribute,” the Head of the Office of the President Orsat Miljenić said after the wreath laying. Commenting on a reporter’s question about the strengthening of historical revisionism, Miljenić replied that his visit as the President’s envoy “shows what we think about historical revisionism and about the events that occurred here.” He reminded that the great sacrifice made by the Second Dalmatian Brigade is a symbol of the sacrifice made by Dalmatians in the Second World War.
Reporters asked Miljenić about how well the public in Croatia is even aware of the fact that thousands of Croatian antifascists were killed here, to which he replied that the people of Dalmatia know very well what had happened here during the Second World War because “every community gave its sacrifice, people from many communities gave their lives and in Dalmatia this event has a legendary status.”
Given that the Croatian Parliament refused to sponsor the ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Sutjeska, Miljenić was asked by reporters on what the President’s position will be in the future. He said that the “Croatian Parliament is independent in decision making; this is not under the jurisdiction of the President and he cannot do anything here, but by sending his envoy the President has made it clear what he thinks about this. We are here today and it is important for us to be both here and in Donje Bare,” Miljenić concluded.
