Pursuant to the new Law on Holidays, Memorial Days and Non-Working Days in the Republic of Croatia, promulgated in November 2019 and in force as of 1 January 2020, 9 January is established as a memorial day – the Day of the unification of Međimurje with the Croatian mother country – commemorating the adoption of the Resolution on the Secession of Međimurje from the Hungarian State.
This historical event has been commemorated since September 2005, when the Law on Holidays, Memorial Days and Non-Working Days in the Republic of Croatia was amended so as to provide that this day would be observed as the Day of remembrance of the Resolution on the Secession of Međimurje from the Hungarian state.
On 9 January 1919, the great assembly of Međimurje Croats gathered in the square in front of the Franciscan Church in Čakovec unanimously adopted the Resolution, which states:
“The Croatian people in Međimurje have always longed to unite politically with their kinsmen of the same blood and language. Hungarian imperialism had ambitioned to create a single and monolingual Hungarian nation from the various nations of the former Hungarian state by enforcing violent Magyarization. As it did not succeed with other non-Hungarian nations, it did not succeed with the Međimurje Croats.
Despite the greatest violence and the fiercest Magyarization, the Croatian people in Međimurje held on to their language and a living desire to throw off the yoke of foreigners. When the idea on self-determination for the people, by the great president of the North American State Wilson, prevailed, the Croats of Međimurje felt that they too had the right to freedom and life. The Hungarian authorities wanted to deal yet another last and crushing blow to this aspiration of the people, and many of our sons had to shed blood for the cause. Nevertheless, the hour of liberation has come for the glorious army of the sons of our blood and language.
That is why today we Croats from all over Međimurje – gathered in the public general assembly on 9 January 1919 in the capital Čakovec – openly, resolutely, unanimously and confidently declare for the whole world to hear: We are for good and all seceding from the Hungarian state to which we belonged under coercion and against our will.”
The Resolution on the Secession of Međimurje from the Hungarian State played a significant role in the historical aspiration to preserve the integrity of the Croatian territory.