President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic visited the State of Israel from 21-24 July. During the working visit, the President devoted a special time to the Yad Vashem Memorial Centre, where she visited the Museum of Holocaust, laid a wreath in the Hall of Rememberance, rekindled the eternal flame and signed the Guest Book.
The President attended a special ceremony on the occasion of the official presentation of the film award Oscar, won by Branko Lustig for the movie Schindler"s List, to the Memorial Centre Yad Vashem. In an inspired speech, the President emphasised the importance of keeping the memory of all 6 million Holocaust victims, so that no such evil and horror would be repeated. The President „expressed the deep sorrow for all the Holocaust victims in Croatia, as well as the victims who perished at the hands of collaborationist Ustashi regime in World War II, victims from the Jewish community, but also many Roma, Serbs and Croats, and all those who were deemed enemies of the regime of the time.“ In addition, the President emphasised „that the regime did not reflect the real aspiration of the Croatian people for an independent state, and that the modern Croatia is founded on anti-fascist resistance and the Homeland War,“ stressing that „everybody thought, that after World War II nothing like Vukovar or Srebrenica would happen again on the European soil, but it did happen, and it is all teaching us a lesson that peace and our values should never be taken for granted.“
During the visit, the President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic had meetings with the Israeli officials: President of the State of Israel, Mr. Reuven Rivlin; Prime Minister, Mr. Benyamin Netanyahu; Speaker of the Knesset, Mr. Yuli Edelstein. A special attention at all meetings was paid to the opportunities to further strengthen and deepen the Croatian-Israeli relations in all areas, especially in economy. In addition, there was an exchange of views on topics of mutual interest, ie.: on current security issues and challenges – both in the region of the Middle East and of South-East Europe, as well as on Middle-East Peace Process, Iran nuclear agreement and fight against terrorism.
More:
http://predsjednica.hr/pretraga/2015-07-22
http://predsjednica.hr/pretraga/2015-07-23
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