Zagreb - Croatia Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Sunday that message from Vukovar to Croatia and the world is that war is the worst solution to conflicts and that regardless of all the tragedy, in the end this was a great victory.
"We came here today primarily to pay our respects to Vukovar, its residents and express our gratitude for everything the have done for Croatia. We are remembering victims, those defenders and civilians who died, were killed or went missing. This was a great tragedy," Jandroković said.
He also said that the message from Vukovar to the Croatian people and the whole world is that the war is the worst way to resolve conflicts and that solution must be sought in a peaceful fashion, through negotiations, taking into account the dignity of every people.
"The Croatian people in Vukovar showed heroism, readiness to make sacrifices, bravery, readiness to fight for their freedom and the Homeland and regardless of all the tragedy, in the end this was one great victory. This was the deciding battle which lead to Croatia's final victory in the Homeland War," Jandroković said.
Croatia is observing Vukovar Remembrance Day in memory of 18 November 1991 when the city's defence lines were broken after a three-month siege by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitaries. The besieged city was defended by around 1,800 members of the National Guard Corps, police and volunteers of the self-organised Croatian Defence Force (HOS), organised into the 204th Croatian Army Brigade.(Hina)