The main committee of the Association of Volunteers and Veterans of the Homeland War was unanimous at a meeting on Friday that the protest rally announced for Saturday could not resolve the problems of the veteran community, but that it was a legitimate way of expressing their discontent.
The committee said in a statement, signed by the association's president Djuro Decak, that every member of the association and every individual could take part in social events according to their own free will, adding that protests were at the core of the functioning of democratic societies.
"We all share the same goals -- to protect the dignity of all Croatian war veterans and their families, and the volunteers and veterans especially insist on the protection of the dignity of the Homeland War," the statement said.
The association said that problems should be dealt with institutionally "through a partnership with the legally and legitimately elected government," stressing that it would continue to exert strong pressure on the Government, Parliament and the President of the Republic to ensure protection of all Homeland War veterans.
