FM Stier attends marking of Croatia's 25th international recognition anniversary

(Hina) - Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier said on Wednesday the international recognition of Croatia 25 years ago was a very important event but that the recognition by the then European Community came "much too late"

(Hina) - Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier said on Wednesday the international recognition of Croatia 25 years ago was a very important event but that the recognition by the then European Community came "much too late", resulting in many lives lost, and that the recognition by the international community was primarily a result of the Croatian people's will.

"The external recognition was very important, but it was only a result of the previously expressed and politically articulated will of the Croatian people... It needs to be said even today that the recognition by the then European Community still came too late, much too late, after the Vukovar tragedy, after Škabrnja, after the destruction of some many innocent lives around Croatia," Stier said at the Croatian Diplomatic Club on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Croatia's international recognition.

He recalled that the decision on the establishment of the Croatian state was adopted in a difficult, complex situation and that "it was adopted despite, not at the incentive of foreign powers." He said the responsibility for the lives lost and the destruction "lies primarily with those who launched the aggression against Croatia, first and foremost with Slobodan Milosevic and all the supporters of the Greater Serbia policy in Serbia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia."

"But those who allowed it cannot be exonerated from a part of the responsibility for all the destruction. And they could have prevented it, those who resisted or hesitated too long about Croatia's international recognition, those who replaced conscience with cynical phrases whereby they avoided to identify the aggressor," Stier said.

When celebrating the day of international recognition, we are first and foremost celebrating the decision and resoluteness of the Croatian people to take fate into their hands, and all "our successes throughout history stem from that self-awareness and self-respect, while the defeats are a result of their absence," Stier said.

The freedom-loving will of the Croatian people was stronger than the cynicism of a part of the international community, of all setbacks and political destruction, even of one's own anger, he added. "That's why it became the foundation not only for creating the state and winning the war, but also for extending the hand of cooperation, for promoting a new architecture of peace in this region, for taking the place to which Croatia belongs today, in the United Nations, NATO and the European Union."

Speaking of the EU, Stier said "it is successful when it integrates and reduces the differences between its members and acknowledges the particularities and interests of each member state."

He recalled that Croatia would chair the Council of Europe in 2018 and the Council of the EU in the first half of 2020. "Croatia will be active in other international organisations too. We were elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the period from 2017 to 2019. As a member of the (UNHRC), we will push for, among other things, raising awareness of the persecution of Christian communities and other religious minorities in countries where religious freedoms are not respected."

Croatia is aware that we are entering a dynamic and uncertain time during which the EU will have to deal with important issues concerning its activity, Brexit, the development of the common market and cooperation with the rest of the world, Stier said.

The world is not as it was 25 years ago and, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, we are witnessing the process, or at least the attempt, of creating a new balance of power globally, "all of which affects this part of the world too," he said. "Because of our geographical position, at the crossroads of central and eastern Europe, we are especially focused on the stability and stabilisation of Europe's southeast. Expanding the zone of peace, security and economic development is important to us."

"In that context, we are pushing for the continuation of EU and NATO enlargement to the countries of Europe's southeast which want that and which, with their actions, are showing commitment to Euro-Atlantic associations," Stier said.

"It's important to recognise that in that region too, partly as a reflection of global trends, partly for specific reasons, every 25 years relations between the key stakeholders are cyclically changing or, at least, there are attempts to change or revise them, and that Croatia's foreign policy must be aware of that today as well," he said.

"In ensuring Croatia's national interests, peace, stability and prosperity, we will work on and develop partnership with other states with which we share the same values so that we can successfully deal with all those challenges," he said in his address.

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