Retired Croatian Army General Ante Roso Dies at 74

Retired Croatian Army General Ante Roso, a participant in all major operations of the Homeland War, died last night in France after a long and serious illness, media reported on Tuesday.

Ante Zorislav Roso was born in Osijek on April 25, 1952. His family heritage is from Ljubuški in Herzegovina. A political emigrant during the communist Yugoslav regime he served as a member of the French Foreign Legion. He returned to Croatia on the eve of the Homeland War, where he organized and successfully trained, in cooperation with other former members of the French Foreign Legion, elite units of the Croatian Army, which carried out the most demanding tasks during the Homeland War.

General Roso was the first commander of the "Zrinski" battalion, the first special unit of the Croatian Army, founded in 1991, which was under the direct commanded of President Franjo Tuđman. He was retired by President Tuđman in 1997. He also participated in the founding of the Croatian Generals Association in 2005.

Speaking at Tuesday’s cabinet session, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković offered his condolences: "In question is a former member of the French Foreign Legion, later the first commander of the Croatian Defense Ministry's special forces unit the Zrinski Battalion. He was also the Chief of Staff of the Croatian Defense Council, and was a veteran of all major military operations during the Homeland War. We thank him, and all veterans of the Homeland War, for the sacrifice they made for freedom and democracy."

Source: HRT