Mesić in Kumrovec: We are here because of the man who brought the republics to the victory table

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - More than 10,000 admirers of the life and work of Josip Broz Tito gathered today in Kumrovec, on May 25 - Youth Day.

One of Tito's favorite holidays, in his birthplace, was marked with traditional Yugoslav folklore.

Former Croatian President and the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia, Stipe Mesić, and the leader of SDSS, Milorad Pupovac, also attended the gathering.

Mesić said he expected to see many flags in Kumrovec "under which the greatest victories in the history of our people were won, under which people died but also triumphed".

"There are those who think that history can be turned back, changed. No one has succeeded in that so far, nor can they now. We have gathered here primarily because of the man who organized the National Liberation War and brought Yugoslavia and all its republics and provinces to the victory table. Those revisionists who dream of something else, they know nothing," Mesić said.

He wondered if, without the National Liberation War, Croatia would even exist and if the defenders would have anything to defend. He concluded that without the National Liberation War, Croatia would again experience the Kingdom of Yugoslavia or a unitary state, and new destructions.

"We reached victory at the victory table, and these revisionists should understand that," Mesić concluded, assessing that Yugoslavia was an authoritarian but not a totalitarian state.