"Those people should be understood. They were our leaders, they were the way they were, whether you like or not. We didn't have anyone better than them and we have to live with that. That's Croatian history," Milanovic told a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism at Zagreb's Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall.
The ceremony, held under the patronage of the Croatian Parliament, Government and the Federation of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists (SABA), was attended, among others, by Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic, Enterprise Minister Gordan Maras, Environment Minister Mihael Zmajlovic, Culture Minister Berislav Sipus, former President Stjepan Mesic, members of Parliament, the secretary for international affairs of the strongest opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Miro Kovac, senior military officers, surviving veterans of the National Liberation Struggle, members of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (HAZU), representatives of religious communities, and foreign diplomats accredited in Croatia.
"The National Liberation Army in Croatia comprised 300,000 people, Croats and Serbs, comparatively the largest number of people in the former Yugoslavia and incomparably more than any other European nation. All those nations fell under Hitler and Mussolini, and only here was the war fought out of conviction, out of a sense of justice, for freedom," the PM said.
He said that many who had joined in the antifascist struggle did so out of a sense of justice and did not know what the Communist Party was or who led it. "It was a fight between the good and justice on the one side and the evil and injustice on the other. This is the only way to explain such a massive movement that only pursued human values."
Milanovic warned of the huge demographic losses during the National Liberation Struggle (NOB). "The Croatian people have never suffered such losses. That should be remembered and that has nothing to do with ideology. We were facing a danger of disappearing, and the monuments (to NOB veterans) should be preserved."
Milanovic said that present-day Croatia had emerged from a war in which its people were threatened with occupation and that the people who had given their lives and good health for the country deserved the deepest respect.
He also noted that in mentioning crimes committed after 1945 a clear distinction should be made "between mourning and nostalgia for a failed state that stole the Croatian name and mourning for the people killed, which shouldn't have happened."
Warning that the forces of xenophobia, hostility and intolerance were on the rise again in Europe, Milanovic concluded his speech with the words "No pasaran!"
Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said that anyone trying to deny the importance of the antifascist movement was working against the present Croatian democratic state. "Any attempt at negating the values of antifascism means negating European values without which Croatia wouldn't have been what it is -- a modern, European and democratic state," he said.
Leko said that during the 1991-1995 Homeland War too Croatia had shown that it belonged among the antifascist nations, which it had confirmed by joining the European Union. "The Republic of Croatia had the democratic strength to re-examine its political past," Leko said.
SABA chairman Franjo Habulin warned that even today, 70 years after the victory over fascism, there were still people in Croatia who emphasise religion, nation and family as the the only values, while various individuals and groups defend war criminals and their crimes. "Had it not been for the national liberation and anti-fascist struggle, the fate of the Croats and other nations would have been different. Antifascism is not something that belongs to the communists or one party alone, it's a conviction that knows no bounds," he said.
Habulin said that although Croatia is a democratic country, the spreading of religious, ethnic or racial hatred and the displaying of fascist symbols is not condemned enough. "People should not be going to Bleiburg and lament about the defeated (Ustasha-run Independent State of Croatia) NDH, but should rather visit former execution sites, light candles and pay their respects. Even though they were on the wrong side, those people were war victims," he said.