Those brave Bulgarians were killed far from their country to contribute to the defeat of Nazism, one of the most horrible evils which befell society, Nenchev said, adding that during World War II Bulgarian history, like Croatia's, was complex and contradictory.
"Here in Vukovar we can proudly say that our country contributed to the collapse of the Nazi empire of evil," he said, recalling that more than 10,700 Bulgarian soldiers and officers had been killed and twice as many wounded in the final battles of WWII from Macedonia to Slovenia.
Croatian Assistant Defence Minister Zoran Pilicic said the names of those 1,027 Bulgarian soldiers should be a reminder and a warning to all so that the evil of WWII did not happen again.
"Very similar things are being done in the world today and, if we forget these people and don't give them the place they deserve, all those things will happen again," he said, adding that he was glad that a group of Bulgarian WWII veterans and Croatian Homeland War (1991-95) veterans attended today's event.
Bulgarian Ambassador Tanya Dimitrova said the Bulgarian military cemetery in Vukovar was built in 1965 and renovated in 2002.
Wreaths were laid at the ossuary, after which a Bulgarian delegation laid a wreath at the monument in the nearby Homeland War Victims Memorial Cemetery.