Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that the government would "continue commemorating important anniversaries from Croatian history in a dignified way" and that as far as he was concerned "there was no need for fake unity" at joint protocols with President Zoran Milanovic in the future.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic confirmed that the successive arrivals of delegations at the main commemorative event on 1 May in Okucani for the 26th anniversary of Operation Flash was agreed, recalling that the successive arrivals had been organised for the recent commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the Operation Plitvice and the 76th anniversary of the breakout of inmates from the Jasenovac concentration camp.

He said that in Okucani, participants would pay tribute to the fallen soldiers who liberated western Slavonia.

The premier dismissed President Zoran Milanovic’s claims that successive arrivals would turn into a show.

There is no need to feign unity at ceremonies, Plenkovic said explaining that the president of the republic would lay his wreath, the parliament’s delegation would place their wreath and the government would lay its wreath.

Plenkovic said that as far as he was concerned, there would be no need for the joint wreath-laying ceremonies until the end of the terms only to feign the unity.

“The general public should get accustomed to that, It is the price of uncivilized communication,” Plenkovic said.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Milanovic said that he was considering not having the army participate in the coming commemoration of the 1995 military and police Operation Flash in Okucani.

“A situation where soldiers have to stand for hours while politicians and government officials successively lay wreaths to comply with epidemiological measures puts in an awkward position the Army Chief of Staff as well as the commander of the land army who, if they do not want to offend anyone, have to be on duty… after arriving with me, they have to wait for (PM Andrej) Plenkovic, then, I guess, also for (Parliament Speaker Gordan) Jandrokovic,” said Milanovic.

PM Plenkovic responded later: “What kind of statement is that?”

Plenkovic went on to say that his cabinet had commemorated all the important anniversaries in a dignified manner and with the full respect for Croatian war veterans and for the dignity of the Homeland War and would continue doing so.

He accused the president of “twisting the arguments,” and recalled that it was the president who was not with the government during the formal commemorations in Vukovar and who abruptly left last year’s commemoration in Okucani.