Croatian President Stjepan Mesic decided to bestow the Order of the Morning Star with the Marko Marulic Image to Miller for his outstanding contribution in culture.
Thanking for this honour, the U.S. official said that the medal was also the confirmation of the work of the commission whose chairman he was. He also described the medal as the expression of respect to millions who disappeared in the Holocaust, to those who managed to survive as well as those who fought against the Holocaust.
At a news conference after he was received by PM Sanader, Warren Miller said the United States had established the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad after realising that as a nation of emigrants, it has a task to help protect religious buildings, cemeteries and historical and cultural monuments abroad. The Commission, which also carries out activities for remembering the Holocaust, cooperates with governments from all over the world where such facilities exist.
Miller recalled that this February, the United States and Croatia signed an agreement on protection and preservation of such facilities which belonged to various communities, with an emphasis on facilities and buildings of communities that were victims of genocide during World War II.
Croatian Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic, who signed the agreement on behalf of Croatia, said on that occasion that the Croatian government had rejected all forms of racial, national or religious hatred and intolerance, Miller told the news conference in Zagreb.
In this context he praised Croatia and its leader for efforts they had taken to promote cultural pluralism and remembrance of the Holocaust.
Miller pointed out Croatia's efforts to preserve the remains of the Jasenovac concentration camp and the engagement of international experts in the arrangement of the display in the local memorial museum.
He recalled that Croatia also observes Holocaust Remembrance Day, when school children learn of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Although anti-Semitism and assaults against Jews and their facilities are on the rise in Europe and the world, this is not the case in Croatia, said Miller, whose grandmother came from Croatia.
Expressing satisfaction with the many good things he said he saw in Croatia, Miller voiced hope that Croatia would continue to be an important transatlantic ally of the United States.
Croatian Prime Minister Sanader congratulated Miller on the important duty he was performing.
In this context he stressed that it must never be forgotten what happened during World War II and in the Holocaust.
Sanader also thanked Miller for his assessment that Croatia is free of anti-Semitism.
Minister Biskupic also received the U.S official earlier in the day.