"We must honour our past but we must first and foremost work for the future. We must work to ensure a better life for everyone, so that you children stay here, start a family and contribute to your home town," the president said, adding that they were the ones who would take Croatia to a better future, which was possible "only if we try and work together."
The president also met with the families of soldiers killed in the 1991-1995 Homeland War and laid a wreath at a monument by a mass grave.
Serb paramilitaries and Yugoslav army troops under Ratko Mladic killed 84 Croats, including 26 defenders and 58 civilians, in Skabrnja 24 years ago tomorrow, completely destroying the town.