An open plaque commemorating the cooperation between Croatia and Slovenia in the war of the 1990s
ZAGREB, November 22, 2021 – The scars and traces of the war from the 1990s and Slobodan Milosevic’s crazy policies are still being felt today, said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković at the unveiling of the monument to the cooperation between the governments of the two countries in Slovenia on Monday. during their struggle for independence.
The memorial plaque on Otočec ob Krki was unveiled by the current prime ministers of the two countries, Janez Janša and Plenković, and their prime ministers 30 years ago, Franjo Gregurić of Croatia and Alojz Peterle.
“We remember all the horrors that took place during the Greater Serbia aggression of the Milosevic regime, and the decisive role of the then Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), both in Slovenia and in Croatia,” Plenković said.
Since mid-1991, there have been no more JNA soldiers on Slovenian territory, and part of Croatian territory was occupied until 1995 and military and police operations Blisk in storm, Janša said.
“We suffered the consequences of this aggression, so to speak, in the 1990s, and the scars and traces of this period and Slobodan Milosevic’s crazy policies are unfortunately still being felt today,” Plenković added.
Janša said that “it is important to have a good neighbor in difficult conditions” and that Croatia and Slovenia were good neighbors at the time.
Gregurić said that the understanding and cooperation enabled the companies to reopen despite the war, that trade and transport functioned, “which was very important for us because the war in Croatia was de facto a big obstacle to transport connectivity. , not only with Serbia, but also with the Eastern bloc. “
“Our customs and police services agreed very quickly and there were no obstacles to the transport of goods and services between Croatia and Slovenia. It was very important for us to have free passage and a corridor to the West,” the former Croatian prime minister said. thanked Slovenia for accepting some Croatian refugees, and Plenković and Janša for successful cooperation.
Slovenia’s six-month presidency of the EU is coming to an end, and Slovenia was Croatia’s partner on its path to joining the Schengen area and the euro area, Plenković said.
“Slovenia has not only been a friend and partner who supports us, but is also the EU presidency, which is actively helping us to make progress in the coming months,” Plenković said.
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