Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's envoy, General Martin Spegelj, said that the stable Europe, including Croatia, was built on the foundations of the anti-fascist war.
The entire Croatia takes pride in Split because in the anti-fascist struggle it united people from remote islands and deep hinterland in the fight against fascism. The last decade of the past century was marked with a crisis which ended with the bloody Homeland War, said Spegelj, adding that "the Homeland War was waged as an anti-fascist war against Milosevic and the fascist ideas of a part of the Serb people".
The president of the Association of Anti-fascist Fighters of Croatia, Ivan Fumic, said that Croatian anti-fascists who fought in the war from 1941 to 1945 would be very glad to see Homeland War veterans and anti-fascist fighters celebrate holidays together.
"There is no need for divisions, we can see that claims towards Croatian territory still exist, but they are impossible to realise thanks to the EU," he said.
Fumic said that the Ustasha movement in the Croatian history was much smaller than the anti-fascist movement, and welcomed the removal of monuments commemorating Ustasha officials.
Split mayor Miroslav Bulicic said that the anti-fascist struggle was an important part of the city's 1,700-year-long history, and as important as the Homeland War.
The ceremony in Split was also attended by political parties' officials, the consular corps from Split, Homeland War veterans' associations, representatives of the Croatian Navy, and others.