October the 24th, 2026 – Speaking in Vukovar, Defence Minister Ivan Anušić has stated that Ukraine is currently going showing the bravery Croatia did back during the 1990s.
Defence Minister Ivan Anušić spoke in Vukovar about how Croatia must continue to help Ukraine because its defeat or the imposition of an unjust peace could lead to a new war on the borders of the European Union.
“Such heroism, sacrifice and respect for one’s homeland is what we also saw in our Homeland War back in 1991. That is why we must continue to help the Ukrainian people who, unfortunately, are going through the same wartime fate we experienced in the 1990s. Because if Ukraine loses this war or if it’s forced into an unjust peace, we’ll once again have war on our own borders,” Anušić said, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence (MORH). Index reports that the minister made the remarks at the premiere of the documentary film “Glory to the Heroes”, which tells the story of two Ukrainians of different political convictions who fought and died for the independence of their country.
After the premiere, Anušić took part in a panel discussion on the Homeland War and the war in Ukraine. Alongside him were Croatian defenders Fanika Janko and Ivan Lukić Zolja, as well as the documentary’s director Alceo Marti. The conversation was moderated by Goran Rotim.
Anušić stressed that Croatia, because of its own wartime experience, particularly understands what the Ukrainian people are going through today. “There are a great many parallels between our Homeland War and the war in Ukraine. The Croatian people, who themselves lived through the sufferings of war, have a special understanding for the Ukrainian people. Just as Vukovar in 1991 put up heroic resistance against a superior Greater Serbian aggressor and became a symbol of Croatian freedom, so Ukraine today is heroically fighting against Russian aggression and keeping the war away from the borders of the European Union,” Anušić said.
He added that Vukovar, because of its defence in 1991 and the suffering it endured during the Homeland War, is a particularly appropriate place for the premiere of a film about Ukrainian defenders. Speaking about the two Ukrainians whose destinies are shown in the documentary, Anušić emphasised that, despite their different political views, they defended their country together.
“One of your interlocutors in the film says that war brings out the worst in people, but it also brings out the best. Two young men who were politically on different sides, when the freedom of Ukraine was at stake, then had only one side – their common struggle for Ukraine,” the minister concluded. He added that similar stories of courage, sacrifice and unity can also be found among Croatian defenders from the Homeland War.
The post Anušić: Ukraine is Showing the Bravery Croatia Did in the 1990s appeared first on Total Croatia.