Twenty-two years have passed since the 19 May 1991 referendum on Croatia's independence, which was the starting point for adopting decisions on the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Croatia and the severing of state and legal ties to the other republics and provinces of the then Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The turnout was 83.6 per cent and as many as 94.2 per cent said 'yes' to the referendum question if Croatia, as a sovereign and independent state that guarantees cultural autonomy and all civil rights to Serbs and other nationalities, could join an alliance of sovereign states with other republics.
Only 1.2 per cent said 'yes' to the other referendum question, if Croatia should stay in Yugoslavia as a single federal state.
Respecting the plebiscitary will of the citizens and after failed negotiations with the other Yugoslav republics on how to overcome the state and political crisis, the Croatian parliament on 25 June 1991 passed a constitutional decision on Croatia's sovereignty and independence.
At the request of the European Communities and based on the 7 July 1991 Brijuni Declaration, the enforcement of that historic decision was delayed for three months in an attempt to peacefully solve the mounting Yugoslav crisis. When the moratorium on the decision expired on 7 October 1991, Yugoslav People's Army planes bombed the Banski Dvori building in Zagreb, which housed the then state leadership with President Franjo Tudjman at the helm.
The next day, for security reasons, the Croatian parliament did not convene in St. Mark's Square but in the building of the oil company INA in Subiceva Street, which is where it passed the decision to sever all state and legal ties to the former Yugoslavia. Croatia thus became an independent and sovereign state formally and legally as well.
In memory of that historic decision and those dates, Croatia observers June 25 as Statehood Day and October 8 as Independence Day.
