President Zoran Milanović inaugurated for second term in office

Zoran Milanović was solemnly sworn in for a second term as President of the Republic of Croatia on Tuesday before the President of the Constitutional Court, Miroslav Šeparović, pledging to be faithful to the Constitution and to perform his duties for the benefit of the Croatian people and Croatian citizens.

“I swear on my honor that I will perform the duties of President of the Republic of Croatia conscientiously and responsibly, for the benefit of the Croatian people and all Croatian citizens. As the Croatian head of state, I will adhere to the Constitution and the law, ensure respect for the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of Croatia, watch over the orderly and just operation of all state authorities, and safeguard the independence, survival and unity of the Republic of Croatia. So help me God," Zoran Milanović swore at a ceremony in the Presidential Office on Pantovčak, holding his hand on the Constitution, and then signed the oath.

Milanović's new five-year term officially begins on Wednesday, and the President of the Republic is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.

After the oath, President Milanović addressed those present:

“Dear citizens and guests, in the life of a nation or state, as well as in the life of an individual, it is necessary to alternate good and bad times, gloomy and bright days. We must sail with the awareness that life is not only calm seas and wind in the sails. Let this awareness be our guide. It is a firm guarantee of uprightness and composure, regardless of the direction and regardless of the strength of the winds and waves.

The basic task of state institutions is to preserve the peace and security of citizens, and I do not mean only peace and security in the most elementary, physical sense. Another, almost equally important goal is to ensure that difficult times do not also become dramatic times, mostly over the backs of the weakest and least protected, so that only those who are closest to the centers of power, the most aggressive, the most competent, profit from the good years.

Inequality and corruption insidiously erode the social structure, like a vicious disease. It is necessary to build and improve legal and social mechanisms that will bring about and contribute to the fact that in bad times we do not weaken materially or in spirit, and that in times of prosperity we maintain reality and touch with solid ground.

 Strength is in knowing your own weaknesses

In recent years, I have often repeated that only we and no one else cares about our country. I believe that all well-intentioned people have understood this statement the way I thought and felt. Other states and nations, as a rule, do not wish us harm and do not work against us, but in the choice between their interests and our well-being, when such a choice arises, they will always choose their interests, including our friends and allies. This is neither a complaint, nor a criticism, nor some narrow-minded self-absorption of any kind. This is the reality of the world we live in. This is a call to stop being carried away by illusions, that someone from the outside will take care of us, when we are in difficulty or when we really need it. Maybe a little, but realistically they never have and never will. Nothing has ever been given to us.

Everything that Croatia has achieved is the merit of our people alone. First and foremost, of those who gave their lives and their health in defense of our freedom. We will forever be indebted to them. And no matter how hard we try, and I swear that we will try, we can never fully repay that debt. Only we, I repeat, and no one but us, care about the people who saved us from the aggressor's subjugation, with their courage, sacrifice and skill. Our lasting gratitude to these people is neither glory of war, nor triumphalism, nor delight in the misfortune of others, the defeated. It is an ode to freedom and a reminder of what we are capable of as a nation, when we are guided by noble motives and when we are united by the highest ideals.

Only we are truly concerned with what our education is like at all levels, what our public health and our judiciary are like, how justice is delivered. Only we are concerned with how our people live. And despite GDP growth, low unemployment, and even an increase in credit ratings, too many of our people today live on the edge of dignity or suffer some form of humiliation. Only we are concerned with how our people live. In defiance of honest work or an honestly earned pension,” said President Milanović.

“It is only in our interest that our institutions are independent, professional and responsible, as are the media, or as it sounds better, journalism. This is, among other things, a prerequisite for the stability and functionality of our constitutional and legal order and our democratic system. It is, in simple language, a shield from arbitrariness and tyranny.

Who else but us cares about the Croats in friendly and neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina? Who else but us will stand up for their endangered political rights and defend their constitutional status. No one but us will accept this thankless job, which is our historical, constitutional and moral obligation. It is crucial that we be self-critical as individuals, both as a government and as a society. Strength lies in knowing our own weaknesses and acknowledging our own missteps. And there is almost no greater weakness than hatred, chauvinism, or distrust of those who are different from us in any of the numerous layers, and we all have them, of identity towards those who are weaker.

Peace, security and dignity will not be the victim of anyone's private ambitions or fixations

There are few things more wrong than glorifying the darkest episodes in one's own history, and every nation has them. There is hardly a greater cowardice than denying patriotism to anyone, based on a difference of opinion, on a difference of nationality, religion or race. As I said in this place five years ago, this is the house for all of us.

Today's world is almost unrecognizable from the world of 40 and 50 years ago, when I and many of us grew up and formed. It is, in fact, unrecognizable from the world of only five, at most ten years ago. The change is ongoing even now. One thing disappears, and something else appears on the horizon, still vague, uncertain, confusing and frightening. It sounds like a convincing description of chaos, it sounds like a hint of an interesting and demanding era, from the Chinese curse. It seems that new gravitational centers of global power have appeared, that is, they are clearly emerging, which cannot be ignored in shaping the image of the future world. It is up to us to devise a national policy that will contribute the most to our interests in this new world, in a new context, in a new paradigm. In this work, we must not have any, or at least not too many, prejudices and dogmas.

The peace, security and dignity of the Croatian people cannot and will not be a victim of anyone's private ambitions or fixations. There is no need to hastily push ourselves to the front lines in matters that we cannot significantly influence, that we cannot change, and that very often we do not understand, but not because of a lack of intelligence, but because of circumstances. Political adventurism and blind following have stood the Croats in the past. Our obligation to Croatian history and the Croatian future, to our ancestors and our children, is to advocate for peace in international relations, for good neighborly relations and for diplomatic resolution of conflicts between countries and peoples. This is not naivety, this is not a betrayal of the Western political and military alliances to which we belong and to which we will belong, and it was a good decision. This is simply a fight for our own interests. This is certainly not a betrayal of Western or European values, no matter how unclear; it is about what those values are and who represents them.

War is the deepest and most poisonous possible social disorder, there is nothing worse. It is not for nothing that it is said that victory is the second worst thing that can happen in war. I will quote the words of President Kennedy: "We must never negotiate out of fear. But never, ever fear negotiations."

We must strengthen our armed forces

Peacemaking and peace-lovingness are not synonymous with naivety. There is no doubt that we must strengthen our armed forces in every respect. The Croatian Army must be able to stop an attack on independence and territorial integrity and fulfill the obligations undertaken within all the alliances to which we belong, whereby these obligations must be interpreted honestly, loyally, but in our interest. However, I do not agree with the thesis that "security has no price". This thesis is practically untenable and inherently unclear.

The army and modern weapons, even the not very modern ones, require dizzying costs, increasingly dizzying, which we cannot influence, and our resources are limited. We should not allow defense spending to swallow money for everything else that makes our lives meaningful and fulfilling. Will we give up public investments in science, in culture and artistic creativity, in sports, in new technologies for the sake of acquiring weapons? What, in fact, will we defend with weapons, which are always limited and must be had, if we neglect what has glorified and still glorifies the Croatian name in the world, what makes us modern and self-confident, small, but a nation, a historical nation?

I want us to be insightful and calculating with healthy skepticism, nothing less and nothing more. I invite us to talk and include in the conversation all the most responsible people and the best experts. Let us try to understand the nature of possible wars of the future, so that we think about the acquisition of weapons and equipment from that perspective. Let us not be pliable and panicky: they are never good allies, never in decision-making, and especially not in the interesting and turbulent times that are happening and in which we participate. Let us harness and stimulate Croatian intelligence and industry, so that we do not import what, objectively, we can produce ourselves, maybe there is not much of it, but it exists. And this does not only apply to weapons and military equipment.

Ladies and gentlemen, during the 19th and 20th centuries, individualism established itself as one of the main characteristics, the engine of the Western capitalist world, and then, of course, of our society in the last 35 years at least. It is my deep conviction that an individualized society is more humane and healthier than one based on some forced variant of collectivism, because it is freer, more democratic, more curious and more prosperous. But there is also a downside, and we know very well what that downside is. Individualism inevitably leads to the breaking or weakening of our social ties, and without it there is no active solidarity. Social networks, far from being a worthy replacement, are in many ways a danger.

It is important to be connected to family, friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, and the community in which we live. This is what constitutes the most tenacious barrier to social exclusion and lethargy, apathy, and heartlessness. The well-being of our country largely depends on the willingness to care for each other, regardless of the differences and disagreements that exist, but which are essentially not too great. Let us let our loved ones know that they have someone to rely on. Troubles will pass more painlessly with the knowledge that we are not left to ourselves, that we are not forgotten in some cold gust of wind. This is the most effective means of dispelling the fear of an unpredictable tomorrow, of the horror of impersonality.

With this faith, with the faith that we will not abandon each other in crucial moments – cheers, and long live our Croatia!” Milanović concluded in his speech.

About 120 guests attended the inauguration of President Zoran Milanović, three times more than five years ago. Former presidents, representatives of political parties, religious institutions and retired generals came - and it can be said that they shared the opinion that the inauguration was dignified, and the president's speech was marked by strong messages in the spirit of the times.

A girl from the Philippines, whose homeland has been Croatia for the past four years, Chriztel Renae Aceveda, sang the song "Give me, God, the eyes of the falcons" wearing a Međimurje folk costume. The inauguration was attended by the Croatian Navy's "Sveti Juraj" acapella group, which performed the national anthem, the Sinj and Trogir acapella groups, and the LADO folklore ensemble.

Source: HRT