Founded on April 8, 1992, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) was the armed forces and highest executive and administrative body of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna and the main armed force of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Homeland War.

“Wars were never won by ‘parlour geo-strategists’ miles away from the front line, nor by military leaders who forgot their military ID cards and dentures in Belgrade in the 1990s,” writes retired Croatian Army and HVO General Zeljko Glasnovic  (09.04.2025) and continues:  “The unsullied human spirit is the most important weapon on and off the battlefield. We live in complex times, beware of false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing. We are at the threshold of a new epoch in human history in which faith, family and nation are once again in danger…

Yesterday, the day before the 33rd anniversary, the Croatian Defence Council – HVO was founded. I greet all the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Croatian forces, and the families of the fallen members of the HVO. I congratulate you on the 33rd anniversary of its founding, and may the Lord receive all the fallen and deceased members who gave their lives for the Homeland into His Heavenly Kingdom, into the Eternal Homeland in heaven.

I express my sincere condolences to their families. No fiery speeches will ever be able to compensate for your loss and lessen your pain, but the memory of those heroes who gave their lives, and because of whose love for Croatia we live in freedom today, despite all the pain, creates a sense of pride.

We must not forget our spiritual leaders who have preserved our faith and the collective memory of the Croatian people through the centuries. You are the descendants of the crusaders, the anti-communist guerrillas who led the fight against Bolshevik Satanism after the bloody year of 1945.

Wars have never been won by ‘parlour geo-strategists’ kilometres away from the front line, nor by military leaders who forgot their military ID cards and dentures in Belgrade in the 1990s.

The unsullied human spirit is the most important weapon on and off the battlefield. Be alert, we live in complex times, beware of false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing. Let us remember the words of Antun Gustav Matoš (prominent Croatian wordsmith, 19^th century): ‘Ah, cursed be the hour when I was born a Croat, because a foreign dog is gnawing at us, and a rope is around our necks…’

History teaches us that the enemy within the walls is much more dangerous than the one we can defeat on the battlefield. Throughout history, Croats have often ignored this message. Proof of this credulity are the carved names of more than 15,500 Croatian warriors that adorn the Cenotaph behind the altar of the parish of the Holy Mother of Freedom at Jarun (Zagreb). 3/4 of the members of the Croatian forces who died in the Homeland War were originally from or had roots in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The average age of a Croatian defender who fought and died in the Homeland War was only 23 years. It is high time that their merits, status and sacrifice are recognised.

It is frightening and devastating that today, 30 years after the Homeland War, we are having discussions about introducing military service and building ammunition factories, as if we have learned nothing from our bloody history. I quote an ancient Chinese philosopher who warned that ‘if you want to destroy a country, you must first destroy its history’.

War memories are not enough, we must write our history and spread the truth about the Homeland War, and we must apply the lessons learned from the war in our everyday lives. Without this, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes, and all our anniversaries will be meaningless, and the memories of our victims and those who died will be just empty forms.

We who survived must in no way ignore the fact that the battle for a unitary Croatian being in the Homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia outside the homeland (the diaspora) is still being fought, the battle has just moved to another battlefield and is being fought by other means. I call on you to courageously and by your own example show and lead in peace as you did in the war.

We are at the threshold of a new epoch in human history in which faith, family and nation are once again in danger. Barbarians disguised as liberals and woke ideologues, and retouched communists, Marxists are once again undermining the foundations of Christian Europe. We need extraordinary perseverance and toughness, and above all moral courage and faith in God to overcome and repel the onslaught of the forces of darkness that are attacking us.

It was easier to create a state than to preserve it. That goal is not a task, but our genetic obligation and duty to those who gave the most precious thing for this country, their lives.”