Croatian state and other delegations on Thursday laid wreaths and lit candles at the central monument at the Memorial Cemetery of Homeland War Victims in the eastern city of Vukovar in tribute to Croatian soldiers and civilians killed or gone missing in attacks of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitaries on the city in 1991.
Wreaths were laid and candles lit by Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, a parliamentary delegation led by Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic, a government delegation led by Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, delegations of the Croatian Armed Forces, the Police Directorate, the 204th Vukovar Brigade, which took part in the defence of the city during which 887 of its members were killed, the coordinating body of Homeland War associations from Vukovar, delegations of the city authorities of Vukovar, Zagreb and Dubrovnik, and representatives of Vukovar and other Croatian counties.
Roses were laid on the graves of the 854 soldiers and civilians buried to date at the Memorial Cemetery.
The head of the Croatian Bishops' Conference, Djakovo-Osijek Archbishop Marin Srakic, conducted a religious service for the Homeland War victims from Vukovar.
Participants in today's events marking Vukovar Remembrance Day arrived at the Memorial Cemetery in a procession, starting their walk through the streets of the city in front of the Vukovar General Hospital, where a commemorative programme was held.
Vukovar Remembrance Day, declared by the parliament as the day when the country remembers the suffering of that eastern city in the 1990s Homeland War, is being observed this year under the slogan "Vukovar won because it was the victim".
The battle of Vukovar, during which 1,624 Croatian soldiers and civilians were killed and 1,219 were wounded, started on August 25 and ended on 18 November 1991, when the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitary units launched an all-out tank and infantry attack on the city.
According to data provided by the Vukovar General Hospital, around 3,600 Croatian soldiers and civilians were killed in the attacks on the city and immediately after its occupation.
The besieged city was defended by some 1,800 members of the National Guard Corps (ZNG), police and volunteers of the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS), formed into the 204th Croatian Army Brigade. The city's defence lines were broken on 18 November 1991, when former JNA and Serb paramilitary forces entered Vukovar.
