The President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, took the oath of office today for his second five-year term as President of the Republic of Croatia. At the inauguration ceremony held in the Office of the President of the Republic, President Milanović took the oath before the President and the judges of the Constitutional Court.
“I swear on my honor that I will perform the duty 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 state of Croatia. So help me God,” said President Milanović and then signed the Oath of Office.
At the beginning of the ceremony, President Milanović inspected the ceremonial procession of the Honorary and Protective Colors, and then, together with his wife Sanja Musić Milanović, he entered the Ceremonial Hall, which was attended by 112 guests. Among the guests were former Presidents of the Republic Stjepan Mesić, Ivo Josipović and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, four Vice Presidents of the Croatian Parliament, the Commanders of the Croatian Armed Forces led by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces General Tihomir Kundida, heads of security and intelligence agencies, representatives of religious communities, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Croatia, the President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the President of the Croatian National Council, the President of the Croatian National Federation, the presidents of the parties that supported President Milanović in the campaign, members of the team that led the election campaign, officials of the Office of the President of the Republic, generals from the Homeland War, and members of the President’s family and friends.
The ceremony began with the Croatian anthem performed by the Sveti Juraj klapa of the Croatian Navy, and after the oath, President Milanović gave an inaugural speech. The main task of state institutions, he emphasized, is to preserve the peace and security of citizens, so that difficult times are not also dramatic, so that they do not fall most heavily on the backs of the weakest and least protected, and so that only those closest to the centers of power benefit from good years. He also emphasized that “only and exclusively we care about our country” and that we should stop being carried away by the illusion that someone from the outside will take care of us when we are in difficulty.
Speaking about the global crisis, he said: “It is up to us to devise a national policy that will contribute most to our interests in this new world, a new paradigm, the peace, security and dignity of the Croatian people cannot and will not be victims of anyone’s private ambitions or fixations”. In his speech, President Milanović emphasized that the Croatian Army must be able to stop the attack on independence and territorial integrity and fulfill all obligations undertaken.
During the inauguration ceremony, the Sinjska Klapa performed the song “Cetina”, the Trogir Klapa performed the “Bodulska Balada”, Chriztel Renae Aceveda performed the song “Dej mi, Bože, oči sokolove”, and the LADO Ensemble performed fragments from “Slavonska kraljica” and the song “Cviće moje”.
Source: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia /
Photos: Tomislav Bušljeta, Filip Glas, Dario Andrišek, Marko Beljan