President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic presented the Charter of the Republic of Croatia to the organisers of the week-long Vinkovci Autumn Festival in that eastern city on Sunday, praising the festival for its role in the preservation of local tradition and customs.

The President attended the main procession of children’s groups at the 54th edition of the event, which is taking place in Vinkovci from 13 to 22 September.

During her stay in the eastern city of Vinkovci, Grabar-Kitarovic met with representatives of the local associations of parents whose children were killed or went missing while defending Croatia in the 1991-1995 Homeland War.

She reiterated her commitment to efforts to find all the missing persons, and spoke about the need for lobbying for the cause of these associations among international nongovernmental and humanitarian organisations and foreign officials and diplomats.

The head of the Vinkovci association of parents of fallen soldiers, Mara Bartulovic, said that 243 residents of Vinkovci had given their lives for the defence of Croatia.

The local association called “the Croatian Mother” was set up in Vinkovci in 1992, and at the time it was involved in efforts aimed at searching for 120 local residents who went missing in the war. Now, it is still searching for 30 people who are unaccounted-for since the war.