Dabro Pushes Operation Storm and Triumphal Arch Initiatives on His Own
DP MP Josip Dabro has launched several proposals without the party's knowledge, and party president Ivan Penava has so far remained silent on his independent actions.
DP MP Josip Dabro has launched several proposals without the party's knowledge, and party president Ivan Penava has so far remained silent on his independent actions.
Josip Dabro, a member of parliament from the Homeland Movement and a former minister in Andrej Plenković's government, has put forward several initiatives ahead of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, which he plans to officially present soon. Among the proposals are shifting the focus of the August 5 commemoration to "Croatian Victory Day," introducing a Memorial Day for the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), and building a Croatian Triumphal Arch at one of the entrances to Zagreb.
This is yet another independent political move by Dabro, not an official initiative of the Homeland Movement. According to Novi list, no one from the party was aware of his plans; they learned about them from the press release like everyone else.
Dabro himself emphasizes that this is his personal engagement. "I launched this initiative on my own because I believe that as an MP, I have the right to put forward my political ideas and proposals, especially when it comes to topics of national importance such as the dignified commemoration of Operation Storm," Dabro told Novi list.
He added that after the summer recess of Parliament, he will present the proposals within the party. "After the summer break in the work of the Croatian Parliament, I will present this proposal within the Homeland Movement as well, and I expect a quality discussion about it," he said, stressing that the goal is for the initiative to become a joint one if it is deemed good.
While Dabro independently shapes political initiatives, DP president Ivan Penava and the rest of the party leadership are watching without any public reaction. Penava also did not respond three weeks ago when Dabro, in an interview with Novi list, directly accused him of serious manipulations during the drafting of the Resolution on the Position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Homeland Movement only briefly stated that the party leadership would discuss Dabro's proposals if he actually presents them in September, confirming that they had no prior knowledge of them.
One of Dabro's proposals is to declare August 8, commemorating the day in 1995 when the Kordun Corps of the Krajina army surrendered, as the HVO Memorial Day, thereby "marking at the highest national and state level the unity of the liberation struggle of the Croatian people in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina."
Additionally, he advocates for making it mandatory for foreign ambassadors in Croatia to attend the celebration in Knin, instead of the current practice where "few of them attend at their own discretion." Dabro described his proposals as "a personal sign of gratitude to Croatian historical heroes."
In addition to formalizing Dabro's initiatives, autumn could also bring a revival of the proposal for legal protection of the Homeland War. In mid-November last year, at the initiative of the Zagreb Volunteers Defenders of Vukovar Association, the parliamentary Committee on War Veterans organized a round table on the possibility of introducing legal penalties for disparaging the Homeland War.
That idea was then supported by HDZ MPs Josip Đakić and Ante Deur, as well as DP club president Ivica Kukavica. "There is a lack of a legal framework to protect the values of the Republic of Croatia, which is founded on the Homeland War," Kukavica assessed on that occasion. The DP now announces that they will seek an answer from coalition partners on the realization of that initiative.
