"Dalmatia was in many ways the cradle of the renewal of Croatia's statehood, the foundations of which were also in the national liberation struggle. Later, with the break up of Yugoslavia, it was only on those foundations that the internationally recognised, independent Republic of Croatia could be created. That goal couldn't have been achieved with extremism, chauvinism and the Ustasha ideology," Josipovic said at an event marking the 68th anniversary of the liberation of Dalmatia.
He said anti-fascism was spread by the participants in WWII and "decades later, by the participants in the Homeland War as well, and I hope people will carry it on without war."
He recalled that the first Croatian government was formed in Split in April 1945.
"The fact that the Ustasha NDH (1941-45 Independent State of Croatia) had ceded most of Dalmatia to fascist Italy echoed painfully throughout Croatia, permanently discrediting the claim that the Ustasha ideology had fought for Croatia's freedom. The Croats who cared about their freedom were with the Serbs and members of other nations with whom they shared the same goal in the national liberation struggle, a genuinely heroic struggle for freedom."
Josipovic said he was proud that his father had been a Partizan and that he thanked him for that.
"The antifascist struggle against foreign occupying forces and domestic accessories is incorporated into the Croatian constitution as a lasting value and one of the most important episodes of our people's long struggle for freedom. It symbolises non-agreement to foreign occupation, non-acceptance of totalitarian fascist ideologies and policies. In our case, it meant a struggle against extreme nationalists - the Ustasha, the Chetniks and others."
Josipovic said the participants in the antifascist struggle did not have the status they deserved, adding that some textbooks had not told the truth about the national liberation war and that, unfortunately, some monuments to that war were demolished.
The president of the Split-Dalmatia County alliance of antifascist fighters and antifascists, Kresimir Srsen, said 33,000 people were killed in Dalmatia in 1941-45, including 18,000 members of the national liberation army.