Croatia Celebrates Independence Day

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic urged all Croatian citizens to unite and work together for a better Croatia when he congratulated them on the nation’s Independence Day, which is observed on 8 October with a state holiday.

Josipovic told all Croats to celebrate with pride and joy their Independence Day, reported website Tportal.

“National freedom and state independence are ideals for which every self-aware people strives, so Independence Day is the holiday when we express due gratitude to all who dedicated their work, skills and endeavours to those ideals throughout our history, notably to those who gave their lives for them during the Homeland Defence War. This binds us all to accept responsibility for Croatia’s present and future. First and foremost, we have the responsibility to build a society of peace, freedom, solidarity, justice, work and respect for human rights, with particular care for children, youth and families,” said Josipovic.

Croatian Independence was declared in May 1991 after a referendum, then by the Parliament on June 25, but a three-month moratorium was imposed as a result of the Brijuni Agreement, and on October 8 the ties with SFR Yugoslavia were formally severed