President Zoran Milanovic and delegations of the Croatian parliament and government laid wreaths and lit candles at the memorial site in the town of Skabrnja for those killed in the 1991-95 war on the occasion of Remembrance Day for the Victims of Vukovar and Skabrnja.

The commemoration of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Homeland War and the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Vukovar and Skabrnja began with a Remembrance Procession that ended in the centre of Skabrnja, a town inland from the coastal city of Zadar.

Accompanied by government ministers and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Robert Hranj, President Milanovic joined the procession to the local cemetery where he laid a wreath and lit a candle in tribute to the victims in front of the Central Cross commemorating those killed in the 1991-1995 war.

Wreaths were also laid by a delegation of the parliament, led by Andro Krstulovic-Opara, a delegation of the government, which included ministers Butkovic, Fuchs, Filipovic and Paladina, and the families of civilian and military victims, veterans who fought in Skabrnja, and delegations of regional government units.

Fuchs: We cannot live in hatred forever

Commenting on yesterday’s incident when locals turned their backs on Deputy Prime Minister Anja Simpraga of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs said that “positive and good gestures should be viewed positively.”

“We cannot live in hatred forever. These are wounds that are difficult to heal, but we need to move on. If we accumulate negative energy for future life and coexistence, it will not be good. We need to move on for the sake of the children and the future,” said Fuchs.