SURVIVING SOLDIERS OF VUKOVAR DEFENCE GATHERED IN TOWN

VUKOVAR, Sept 23 (Hina) - The surviving soldiers who defended Vukovar and the families of those killed and missing gathered at the stadium in this eastern town on Sunday, September 23, to mark the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Croatian army's 204th Vukovar Brigade. According to figures issues by local police, there were about 1,200 participants in this event. Present at the gathering was the minister in charge of Croatian war veterans, Ivica Pancic, who was the member of this brigade. On behalf of the supreme commander and the President of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic, his envoys, retired generals Martin Spegelj and Karl Gorinsek, also attended the event. On behalf of the government, under whose auspices the gathering was organised, Defence Minister Jozo Rados came in Vukovar on this occasion. "We fought for the establishment of Croatia as one and united country, for the prosperity of the Croatian people, for each man. We fought for the strength of the Croatian people shown through its army, its system and institutions of the system from which we now expect to function and to respect us as citizens," said a war-time commander of the brigade, Branimir Borkovic alias Mladi Jastreb. He described the 204th brigade as the seeds of the Croatian state. According to one of members of the war-time command of the brigade, Danijel Rehak, at the beginning of its establishment the brigade had included about three to four thousand troops. Of them, 1,800 were Vukovar citizens. After the war until this day, the brigade had never been gathered as "neither the defence ministry nor the interior ministry gave the green light for it in the last ten years, although there were initiatives (for lining up again the brigade members)", he added Around 600 brigade members were killed in 1991 during the Serb attack on the city, while 457 are missing. Seven hundred and seventy (770) were wounded and 1,527 were detained in Serb camps. Surviving fighters from the Vukovar brigade made up the basis for the constitution of the Fifth Guard Brigade of the Croatian Army Some of guests at today's event were Deputy Interior Minister, Josip Vresk, Sabor Speaker's envoy, MP Marijan Marsic, the Croatian Army's headquarters chief-of-staff's envoy, Major General Slavko Baric, Vukovar-Sirmium County Prefect Nikola Sefer and Vukovar Mayor Vladimir Stengl. The first commander of the 204th Vukovar brigade, Mile Dedakovic alias Jastreb, did not attend today's event in Vukovar. A day before at a Vukovar press conference, Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) president Anto Djapic labelled the gathering "harmful and ill-advised" because "it could further drive apart the already divided war veterans." Local leaders of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) earlier also called on the veterans not to attend the Sunday commemoration. Sunday's gathering at the stadium was held under tightened security with 250 police officers. (hina) ms