Nikica Valentic, a former prime minister, said Tudjman had recognised the historical circumstances in 1989 and created the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) movement through which he implemented a programme aimed at creating independent Croatia.
"He led the state in the defensive war which was won and Croatia was internationally recognised," said Valentic, underlining the importance of Tudjman's notion of the reconciliation of Croats.
Commenting on accusations against Tudjman for aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentic said that he personally, as prime minister, had received orders from Tudjman to help Bosnia in everything.
The president of the Croatian Cultural Council, Hrvoje Hitrec, underlined that Croatia had been independent under Tudjman because both during aggression and occupation it was independent in its policy and bowed to no one.
Hitrec said that although he was not in the register of Croatian war veterans, Tudjman had been a defender of the Croatian right to independence, national and cultural identity and sovereignty, and that he had been one of the few who integrated Croatian goals, setting them high and proving they could be achieved.
Hitrec said that once again, the Croatian policy was not orchestrated in Zagreb but in foreign centres of power. He added that Croatia's fate was jeopardised and that the country was on bargain sale.
Zdravko Tomac, a deputy prime minister in the wartime government, said the incumbent ruling party and the opposition were both willing to renounce everything the Croatian people had created with Tudjman at the helm for allegedly new national interests -- Croatia's accession to the European Union and NATO.
The commemoration was organised by the Association for Croatian Prosperity and Identity (HIP), the Croatian Harmony Forum, the Croatian Cultural Council, and the Association of Homeland War Veterans, Disabled and Widows.
In attendance were members of the Tudjman family, senior military and political leaders from the 1990s, but no one from the incumbent authorities.