Wreaths were laid at the Homeland War Victims Memorial Cemetery, mass was celebrated, and a commemoration was held, with War Veterans Minister Predrag Matic regretting the boycott.
He said the 204th Brigade was "the most famous and most honourable" in the Croatian Army, and that he was pleased that all three commanders of Vukovar's defence in 1991 were in attendance together after ten years - Tomislav Mercep, Mile Dedakovic and Branko Borkovic.
The minister, who was a member of the brigade, urged the three commanders to unite the fellow fighters. He regretted the events in Vukovar of the last three weeks due to protests initiated by the Initiative for the Defence of Croatian Vukovar against Cyrillic signs on public administration building.
Matic said he was "between a rock and a hard place, between heart and law. They demand my resignation... If my resignation would contribute to solving the situation in Vukovar, I would go right away."
Speaking to Hina, Initiative member Vlado Iljkic said that, as announced earlier, some Initiative members boycotted today's official protocol and that they would commemorate the anniversary by laying wreaths at the Homeland War Victims Memorial Cemetery on Tuesday.
The command to form Vukovar's 204th Brigade was issued on 25 September 1991. It was formed in early October with 1,800 members. During the 1991-95 Homeland War, the brigade had 5,493 members; 923 were killed, 760 were wounded and 1,700 were taken to detention camps, according to the "Vukovar 91" association of Vukovar defenders.