The commemoration of the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II, which began the liberation of France and the rest of Western Europe and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front, was organised by the VEDRA Association of Homeland War Veterans and Antifascists.
The event was attended by the ambassadors of the United States, France, Great Britain, Canada and Germany, as well as two former Croatian presidents, Ivo Josipović and Stjepan Mesić.
US Ambassador Nathalie Rayes said that with the Normandy landings the Allies together defeated tyranny and Nazism, bringing peace to Europe. However, that peace is now in great danger due to the aggression of Russia under Vladimir Putin's leadership against Ukraine, she said.
Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine is putting to the test the security and prosperity of Europe and its transatlantic partners, she said.
Just as 80 years ago the Allies won together in World War II, so should they help Ukraine with joint action now, she said.
The spirit of Normandy does not have to do only with the past, it is a foundation that continues to inspire us to help the Ukrainian people, the US ambassador said.
French Ambassador Fabien Fieschi said that the Normandy landings marked the beginning of the end of an aggression, but that today the world is faced with another aggression, this time by Russia against Ukraine, and with Russian imperialism.
Russia's brutal aggression against Ukraine shows that peace is not eternal and that security is in danger, he said.
Canadian Ambassador Jessica E. Blitt and British Ambassador Simon Thomas also addressed the event, stressing that the D-Day operation marked the beginning of the end of Nazism and Fascism and the establishment of democracy and peace that today are threatened by the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
German Ambassador Christian Hellbach said that the Normandy landings marked the end of the Third Reich and the beginning of the liberation of Germany from Nazism.
For Germany, the Normandy landings were the beginning of a new chapter in our history and reconciliation with the neighbours, Ambassador Hellbach said.
Former Croatian president Ivo Josipović said that the presence of foreign ambassadors at the commemoration in Split sent a message about "what was right in World War II", in which Fascism and Nazism were defeated.
"Croatia was never a superpower, but together with other peoples of the former Yugoslavia it gave a contribution to the antifascist victory," Josipović said, adding that it was not necessary to stress "who was what in WWII" but that it was important to talk about the victory of antifascism.
VEDRA president Ranko Britvić said that the Split commemoration was "exceptionally important", noting that "it was the Partisans who are recognised as having fought on the victorious side, with the Allied forces, and not the Ustasha, Chetniks and Quislings."
The president of the Association of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists of Croatia (SABA), Ivan Fumić, wore a cap with a five-pointed red star at the Split commemoration.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a wreath was laid in Trogir near Split at the grave of Marinko Bakica, a local Croat who was a member of the US 5th Engineer Special Brigade and was killed on the first day of the invasion of Normandy.