"Patriotism is not out of fashion, it's something we should continue to hold on to strongly," Kosor said at the commemoration, adding that following Tudjman's patriotism was an obligation "for all of us".

Recalling that many had given their lives out of patriotism, Kosor said that Tudjman was the first to successfully lead Croatia to independence. "He was a man of vision and statesman long before he became Croatia's first president."

The HDZ leader and Prime Minister said she was proud that Croatia signed the EU Accession Treaty on Friday, adding that the HDZ and the Croatian state had made Tudjman's dream of Croatia as an EU member a reality.

"Croatia has de facto sat at the table of European states and nations. There we will decide about our own future and no one will ever again do it on our behalf," she said.

In her address at the commemoration, she also said that it was a task "for all of us to preserve the HDZ's unity in this historic moment."

Underlining the importance of the HDZ as the pivotal political party of the Croatian people, Kosor said that without the HDZ, Croatia could not be stable.

She said the party would fight those who distort facts to change the truth about the past and Tudjman and to create conditions for a future in which Croatia would be not only "de-Tudjmanised" but also "decroatinised".

She said that Tudjman's political legacy included preservation of the truth about the Homeland War and the need to overcome its consequences. Tudjman believed that this region needs reconciliation based on the truth, she said.

"We will therefore work tirelessly and without fear to preserve the historical truth about the Homeland War and prevent attempts to compromise it," Kosor said, underlining that the Homeland War was a war of defence and liberation.

Attending the Zagreb commemoration were, among others, representatives of war veterans' associations, Miroslav Tudjman, the son of the late Croatian president, and other public figures.

The anniversary of Tudjman's death was marked also in Osijek and Split.

Osijek County head Vladimir Sisljagic said at a ceremony in Osijek that Tudjman deserved credit for the creation of free, democratic and independent Croatia, recalling also his role in the defence and liberation of the country in the Homeland War and in the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region.

Delegations of the HDZ branch in Split and the club of its founders commemorated the anniversary of Tudjman's death by laying wreaths in the city's square named after the first president.