TUDJMAN ADDRESSES CELEBRATION IN OKUCANI

OKUCANI, May 2 (Hina) - The main task of liberating Croatian territory has been successfully completed, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said in Okucani on Thursday at the central celebration of the first anniversary of Operation "Flash" which had crushed Serb rebellion in western Slavonia. #L# However, Croatia was now faced with the no less important task of preserving its independence and strenthening its democratic and legal system, he said. "Croatia is faced with games of powerful states in the European Union and the international community. We must not allow internal dissensions to jeopardise the future of the Croatian people and the Croatian state," Tudjman said. Recalling some events from Croatian history, President Tudjman said that Croatia had had some very painful experiences since the 12th century, when it lost its independence. This experience should be used to learn how to provide for the future of the Croatian people and the Croatian state. Unfortunately, many were not aware of them, he said. Today, like in history, Europe was struggling with its own problems, using Croatia to further its interests, the President said. "Many Croats, even those on the political scene, are forgetting this. We have won military victories, such as "Flash" and "Storm" (the liberation of central and southern Croatia in August last year) which will go down in history," he said. "Today we're faced with the task of ensuring the future of the Croatian state, and we can do it only by strengthening its democratic system. Our task is to ensure the consistent application of our constitutional and legal system," he said. Tudjman warned that on the Croatian political scene there were those who believed that they did not have to respect the constitutional and legal system, which could be seen in the local government crisis in Zagreb. "We, who were responsible with all of you, the majority of the Croatian people, for establishing the democratic, independent and sovereign Croatian state and for promulgating its Constitution, we also bear most responsibility for its preservation. We have laws and we're responsible for preserving and ensuring the efficient functioning of Croatian authorities," he said. Recalling that it was the disorientation of democratic Croatian politicians that had enabled the Ustashas and the Communists to take the leading roles in Croatia in 1941, Tudjman said that the present Croatian leadership had drawn conclusions from that. "The Croatian leadership will not allow something like that to happen again, it will not allow the destruction of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) which led the Croatian people to independence, and it will not yield the leadership of Croatia to some who now don't represent the majority and who could play a negative role," the President said. "The psychological war against Croatia was prepared in various foreign centres which did not favour Croatia as an independent and sovereign state but also in those which had links to the former Yugoslav unitary and communist system," he said. The President added that those centres portrayed the HDZ, which was based on the idea of the sovereign, democratic and independent Croatian state, as a dangerous party, that Herzegovina Croats were a stone around the neck of the Croatian people, that Croatian policy towards Bosnia was wrong and that fraud was rife throughout the country. Tudjman stressed that after last year's military victories the government had made energetic efforts to enforce laws. "We are witnessing cases in which some opposition members do not respect the constitutional and legal system but there are also individuals in the ruling party who would also like to avoid the laws they themselves have created," Tudjman said, stressing that the Croatian leadership, the government and parliament would do all in their power to make Croatia a country of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. (hina) as vm jn 022015 MET may 96