The event was initiated by a war veterans association seeking the establishment of the status of Homeland War heroes.
The president of the Croatian Social Democrats, Zdravko Tomac, said that General Gotovina was a symbol of the liberation of Croatia in Operation "Storm", which he said was evidenced by Gotovina's harsh attitude towards soldiers who committed crimes during the operation.
"A man who speaks and acts that way cannot be the man who conducts a genocidal campaign against Serbs. Gotovina was at the helm of a legitimate military operation, not a premeditated crime," Tomac said, adding that Gotovina should be awarded the status of a Homeland War hero. He also said that the Hague tribunal was not only a legal, but also a political tribunal with the task to allocate guilt for the great-Serbian aggression.
The chairman of the parliament's committee on war veterans affairs, Vlado Jukic, supported the initiative to establish the status of Homeland War hero, adding that Gotovina be given such status for his behaviour during the war.
Former War Veterans Minister Ivica Pancic said he had nothing against Gotovina being awarded the status of a war hero.
Responding to Pancic's statement that the current situation was caused by the fact that crimes committed during the war had not been prosecuted, Jukic said that 175 Croatian soldiers were in prison for committing crimes during the war.
A reporter for the "Globus" weekly, Gordan Malic, said that the main issue was why Gotovina was on the run and why he was supported by a vast majority of citizens and not whether or not he had committed or ordered a crime.
Malic believes that there is no reason for Gotovina not to go to The Hague, except for personal reasons which he said had been politicised. This was not the case with other Croatian generals who responded to the tribunal's summons and answered its questions, he added.
The leader of the Alliance of Homeland War Volunteers' Associations, Tom Kacinari, supported the proposal to adopt a law on the status of Homeland War heroes by consensus and establish clear criteria for awarding that status.
The round table discussion was organised by the association called Disabled Soldiers and Homeland War Volunteers (VIDDRA).