The Istria County Assembly on Wednesday held a special session in the county seat of Pazin to mark the 76th anniversary of the historic decisions on the reunification of Istria with Croatia and the 75th anniversary of the 43rd Istrian Division.

Speaking at the event as the prime minister’s envoy, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli underlined the importance of anti-fascism and the 1991-95 Homeland War for the establishment of democracy and a free state of modern European values enjoyed today.

“In many regards Istria sets an example of development that we want to have in the future as well. It is visited by more than four million tourists annually and it is the leader not only in terms of tourism development but leads the way in other economic sectors as well,” the minister said.

He added that credit for that should go to all those who had participated in Istria’s antifascist resistance and promoted it nation-wide.

“Thank you for what you started in 1943. That should be remembered and respected. Istria has always been a part of the democratic community and part of Europe because it behaved in a European way, yet never forgot its past,” Cappelli said.

Loncarevic: Istria was first to embark on decentralisation

The envoy for the Croatian president, Vladimir Loncarevic, described Istria as the first Croatian county to undertake more significant decentralisation and autonomous participation in European processes and that it led the way also in terms of minority rights.

Acting Istria County head Fabrizio Radin spoke about current problems in the county, reiterating that he advocated the survival of shipbuilding in Pula as “without Uljanik, the Croatian shipbuilding industry cannot survive.”

Stressing that antifascism was always necessary and that it had not lost relevance, as some would want to depict it today, Istria County Assembly head Valter Drandic said that antifascism was a set of superior values, ideas and first-class questions concerning relations between people, between citizens and authorities, and between political powers.

“Unfortunately, today it pays in Croatia to produce ‘counter-history’, it has actually become a profitable business. That is why it is important to further promote the healthy and progressive Istrian spirit, the spirit of the people. We need resolve, new prospects, new challenges but more than that we need more strength and more unity,” said Drandic.