Speaking at a ceremony in Vukovar on Sunday marking the 14th anniversary of the completion of the peaceful reintegration of Croatia's Danube River region into the country's constitutional and legal order and the departure of the UN peacekeeping force UNTAES from the area, President Ivo Josipovic said that today, when Croatia was also marking the 20th anniversary of its international recognition, was a holiday of confidence, peace and justice.
The peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube River region was the UN's most successful peace project, Josipovic said, adding that it helped save many lives. Credit for the peaceful reintegration should be given to the then Croatian state leadership, political representatives of the ethnic Serbs, and the international community, Josipovic said.
The process of reconciliation would not have been possible without trust and justice. Croatia today is about to hold a referendum on its EU entry, which is also part of a big process of confidence-building - confidence in one's own strength and confidence in Europe, said Josipovic.
The head of the then office of the transitional administrator for the restoration of Croatian authority in the Danube region, Ivica Vrkic, said that "Vukovar fought great battles for Croatia, but also built peace." He added, however, that Croatia did not care enough about the process of peaceful reintegration "because had it done it, it would have a much different position in The Hague."
The ceremony in Vukovar was also addressed by the chair of the then national committee in charge of establishing inter-ethnic trust in the Danube region, Vesna Skare Ozbolt. She said the process of peaceful reintegration had enabled the return of eastern Croatia, Baranja and western Srijem into Croatia's constitutional and legal order without a single bullet having been fired or a human life lost.
The president of the Joint Council of (predominantly Serb) Municipalities, Dragan Crnogorac, said the Serb community had accepted the process of peaceful reintegration because it had realised that it was the only way to build peace and coexistence in the future between Serbs and Croats. He called on the Croatian and Serbian authorities to work on solving outstanding issues in relations between the two countries, saying that the process of return of refugees and displaced people was still not over.
Vukovar Mayor Zeljko Sabo said Vukovar today was a town of peace and tolerance.
The ceremony, held under the slogan "Vukovar - 14 Years of Peace and Tolerance", included performances by local folklore troupes.
The UN Security Council on 15 January 1996 adopted resolution 1037 on a year-long UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) mission, including a possibility of its extension by a year.
The process of peaceful reintegration of eastern Slavonia was completed on 15 January 1998 when the Croatian Danube River region (eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem) was reintegrated into Croatia's constitutional and legal order, which created conditions for the return of refugees and displaced people to that region and its reconstruction.
