Events marking the Croatian Armed Forces Day on May 28 and the 27th anniversary of the establishment of the modern Croatian army continued on Sunday at Zagreb's Jarun recreational sports centre with attractive programmes and a display of military equipment.
President and Armed Forces Commander-in-chief, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Defence Minister, Damir Krsticevic, Veterans’ Affairs Minister, Tomo Medved, and other high-ranking domestic and foreign officials attended the public event.
The event started with a 27-gun salute, followed by parachuting, a programme performed by the army’s Guard of Honour, a demonstration exercise performed by the Croatian Army, Air Force and Special Forces’ Command, a flyby of MiG-21 fighter jets, and a show performed by the Wings of Storm aerial acrobatics team.
In his address, Veterans’ Affairs Minister Medved congratulated their day to all members of the Armed Forces.
“I am pleased today to see a modern, well-trained, and well-equipped Croatian Army, an army that was built in the difficult conditions of the Homeland War. Had we then had the army that we have today, there would have been less suffering and fewer victims. Unfortunately, we had to go through all the suffering and build an army in extremely difficult conditions. We are proud of everything we have achieved,” said Medved.
Defence Minister Krsticevic described the Croatian Army as a brand, noting that it was always at its people’s service.
“You have seen in the last two years how much we have worked on that… I can see that our people love the Croatian Army, I see here a lot of interested young people. We are here to demonstrate to them the Army’s capabilities,” said Krsticevic, noting that military barracks had opened their doors to the public to mark the Armed Forces Day.
The Armed Forces Day and Army Day are marked every year on May 28, the anniversary of the day when in 1991 an official review of the National Guard Corps – the modern Croatian Army’s predecessor – was held in Zagreb.
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