Today's day is a sequence of wishes of Croatian people and realization of the political will of the first president

After a wreath-laying ceremony at Zagreb's central cemetery of Mirogoj on the occasion of Statehood Day, observed on 25 June, top state officials -- President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic - extended their best wishes for this public holiday and commented on a possibility of reinstating the observance of Statehood Day on 30 May, in memory of the establishment of the first multiparty democratic parliament on 30 May 1990.

All the three officials were today unanimous in their comments that the observance of Statehood Day should be shifted again to 30 May, in compliance wit the practice followed in the first decade of the independence of the Republic of Croatia.

Until 2001 Statehood Day was observed on 30 May to commemorate the inauguration of the first multi-party Croatian Parliament in 1990. Today 30 May is observed as Croatian Parliament Day.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said today that in her opinion, the official date for observing Statehood Day should have remained on 30 May.

"For me, 30th of May is really that authentic date when changes happened in Croatia, paving the way for statehood."

She also noted that it had not been advisable to change dates of Statehood Day. "This puzzles the international community a bit. The date should not have been changed at all. I am personally in favour of reinstating the observance on 30 May," she added.

Both Jandrokovic and Plenkovic believe that the majority of Croatians have identified themselves with 30 May.

Six relevant dates

In this context Plenkovic cites "six relevant dates" in the Croatian history: 15 January in memory of Croatia's international recognition on 15 January 1992 and the completion of peaceful reintegration on 15 January 1998; 30 May in memory of the foundation of the first multiparty legislature on 30 May 1990; 25 June 1991 when the Croatian Parliament adopted a historic resolution initiating the process of disassociation from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia based on the results of a referendum held on 19 May 1991; 5 August as Victory Day in memory of 5 August of 1995  when the Croatian forces liberated the large part of the occupied areas; 8 October in memory of 8 October 1991 when the first Croatian legislative assembly decided to sever all ties with the SFRY; and, 18 November to pay tribute to victims in Vukovar which fell into the hands of the occupying forces on 18 November 1991.

In the same vein, the premier said that his cabinet would propose legislation for commemorating those dates appropriately.

Text: Hina

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