Noting that it was almost impossible to summarise the stormy and rich history of the armed forces of independent and sovereign Croatia, Mesic said that there were few countries in the world which had established their armed forces in the most difficult conditions such as the Homeland War, managing to establish a victorious army.
Commending the Armed Forces for their successful transformation, he said that the decision "on the downsizing and reorganisation of command headquarters and units was accepted and carried out with a full sense of responsibility", with the army once again demonstrating its maturity and ability to understand the current situation in the country.
"Preserving the sovereignty of the national territory as a primary role of our defence system will be complemented with tasks arising from global security developments, new threats to security, and the needs of current and future allies".
"Together with other countries we have accepted the task of building and preserving a safe and stable international community, and I sincerely hope that on the road of meeting our obligations we can rely on you with full confidence," President Mesic said in the message among other things.