Inauguration of Milanović: This is a call to stop indulging in the illusion that someone from the outside will take care of us

President Zoran Milanović today took the oath for his second five-year term. About a hundred guests attended the inauguration, including former presidents, representatives of institutions, associations, the Armed Forces, and religious communities, as well as leaders of the parties that supported him in the campaign, along with his family and friends. However, no one from the government was present.

– Dear citizens and guests, in the life of a nation or state, as well as in the life of an individual, a change of good and bad times, gloomy and bright days, is necessary. We must navigate with the awareness that life is not just a calm sea and wind in the sails. Let that awareness be our guide. It is a firm guarantee of correctness and composure, regardless of the direction and regardless of the strength of the winds and waves.

The primary 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 that difficult times are not also dramatic times. Also, that they do not break the backs of the weakest and least protected, and that good years do not benefit only those who are closest to the centers of power, the most aggressive, the most competent.

Inequality and corruption insidiously erode the social structure, like a malignant disease. It is necessary to build and refine legal and social mechanisms that will ensure that in bad times we do not falter either materially or spiritually, and that in times of prosperity we maintain reality and a connection to solid ground.

In recent years, I have often repeated that only we, and no one but us, care about our country. I believe that all well-meaning people have understood that statement as I meant and felt it. Other countries and nations generally do not wish us harm and do not act against us, but in the choice between their interests and our well-being, when such a choice arises, they will always opt for their interests, even our friends and allies. This is neither a lament, nor a criticism, nor any kind of narrow-minded closing in on ourselves. This is the reality of the world we live in. This is a call to stop indulging in the illusion that someone from the outside will take care of us when we are in trouble or when we really need it. Perhaps small, but realistically never has been and never will be. Nothing has ever been given to us.

Everything that Croatia has achieved is solely the merit of our people. Above all, those who gave their lives and health in defense of our freedom. We will forever be indebted to them. And no matter how hard we try, and I swear 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 aggressive subjugation, with their courage, selflessness, and skill. Our lasting gratitude to those people is neither glory to 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 united by the highest ideals.

Only we truly care about the quality of our education at all levels, the state of our public health, and our judiciary, how justice is shaped. Only we care about how our people live. And despite the growth of GDP, 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 care about how our people live. With defiance towards honest work or a fairly earned pension – said President Milanović.

At the very end of his speech, he stated that institutions must be independent, professional, and accountable, as well as the media. This, adds Milanović, is a prerequisite for the stability and functionality of the Croatian constitutional-legal order and democratic system.

– This is, in simple terms, a shield against arbitrariness and tyranny – he concluded.

Let us remind ourselves, 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.