Wreaths were laid and candles were lit by the families of the policemen killed, a parliamentary delegation led by Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic, a government delegation headed by Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and delegations of the police and local veterans' organisations. President Ivo Josipovic, who is currently on a visit to the United States, was represented by his special adviser on veterans' affairs, Predrag Matic.

Addressing the ceremony, Matic said that the 12 police officers had been killed "in a classic terrorist act". "We will insist that the perpetrators of this and other crimes are punished and you will have the President's full support in that," he added.

Bebic said that the Homeland War was a just and defensive war and called upon those gathered to defend its values against those trying to disparage it.

Kosor said that "anyone responsible for any crime committed during the Homeland War, which was a just and defensive war of liberation, must be held to account." "The crime committed in Borovo was a precursor to what happened during the hard years of the war. Croatia was a victim of aggression, a victim of a heavy machine that came from the East, a victim of the policy of Serbian territorial expansion pursued by Slobodan Milosevic," she added.

Kosor said that the completion of EU membership negotiations and actual accession to the EU was Croatia's last great battle.

Before the speeches, war veteran Davor Bijader of Ivankovo stepped forward and asked the prime minister why the policemen were commemorated at the site where they had not been killed.

"Commemorations should be held outside the town hall, but your coalition partner doesn't allow it," Bijader said, referring to the Independent Democratic Serb Party. Kosor tried to calm him down by repeating several times, "We will fight for it", after which Bijader returned to his place among the veterans.

Borovo is predominantly populated by ethnic Serbs.