ZAGREB, Sept 21 (Hina) - "The International Day of Peace is an occasion for us to remember all who in the past years and decades in our motherland, but also in the world, gave their lives defending the freedom and waging wars against
wars," read a message which Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic issued on the occasion of International Peace Day on Saturday.
ZAGREB, Sept 21 (Hina) - "The International Day of Peace is an
occasion for us to remember all who in the past years and decades in
our motherland, but also in the world, gave their lives defending
the freedom and waging wars against wars," read a message which
Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic issued on the occasion of
International Peace Day on Saturday. #L#
Mesic described peace as a necessary prerequisite for the
maintenance of freedom, the accomplishment of progress and the
construction of societies where every individual is equal
regardless of their ethnic, racial and religious origins or their
political views.
In this context, the Croatian head of state says it is possible to
maintain peace only if all nations are equal and if all nations, no
matter if they are small or big, are given the same opportunities
for their development.
"We in Croatia, with fresh and painful experiences from the recent
war, can appreciate peace and we know, perhaps even better than any
of our other contemporaries in Europe, what war means and what peace
means. The times of wars in the area of the former Yugoslavia are
over and are irretrievable. The times of wars must not ever come
back in Croatia," Mesic's statement reads.
All the aspects of the Croatian policy are directed to ensuring
prerequisites for the peaceful development and the maintenance of
peace in the region, Europe and the world, the President added.
(hina) ms