"It is not possible to remain indifferent in remembering that dramatic and fruitful period which determined us and will determine us in the future," Bebic said addressing those in attendance, including MPs from 1990, former prime ministers and former members of the Presidency of the Republic of Croatia.

Also present were incumbent President Ivo Josipovic, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and representatives of the judicial authority, the diplomatic corps and religious communities.

Bebic said the inauguration of the modern Croatian parliament marked the beginning of the creation of the new Croatia.

"We were proud and aware that we were becoming part of the long history of the Sabor which had continuously preserved Croatian statehood throughout the centuries," said Bebic.

He recalled that since its inauguration, the first multiparty Sabor had adopted many decisions which would mark Croatia's future, and that in the dramatic moments of the Serb rebellion and the Yugoslav army's open aggression, it adopted a decision to sever ties with the other republics of the former Socialist Yugoslavia.

"It is impossible to talk about Croatian parliamentarianism without talking about the Homeland War and those who had defended Croatia," Bebic said, remembering in particular Croatia's first president, the late Franjo Tudjman.

Bebic went on to say that in recent years, the Sabor had been focusing on the alignment of Croatian legislation to European Union standards so that Croatia could wrap up the accession negotiations and, after the accession to NATO, join the EU as well.

"The Sabor is systematically following all aspects of the negotiations and will continue to even more intensively promote parliamentary diplomacy and contacts with other parliaments, as it is easier to harmonise states' different positions through immediate contacts among parliamentarians."

Bebic voiced confidence that the sixth Sabor would meet the set tasks, but also underlined that it would not overlook the importance and contribution of its first make-up, the first governments and the Presidency of the Republic of Croatia, whose members would be awarded a Croatian Sabor charter tonight.

The first multiparty Sabor was inaugurated on 30 May 1990 based on the results of the first democratic multiparty election since World War Two.

The election was won by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which won 205 of a total 351 seats in parliament.

At the inaugural session, Tudjman was elected president of the Presidency of the then Socialist Republic of Croatia. He called the inauguration of the first multiparty Sabor as the first step in the return of the Croatian people and its state to European civilisation and Europe's political, cultural and economic tradition.

During 1990 and 1991, the Sabor adopted many fundamental decisions for Croatia's independence, including a new Constitution on 22 December 1990, which clearly expressed the Croatian people's will to declare independence, as confirmed in a May 1991 referendum.

On 8 October 1991, the Sabor approved its decision from June that year to sever all ties with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.