European Parliament marks 1,100 years of Croatian kingdom

Members of the European Parliament Davor Ivo Stier and Karlo Ressler organised a formal ceremony in Brussels on Wednesday to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the Croatian kingdom.

It is very important that Croatia, as the youngest member of the European Union, shows that it is an ancient nation with a long statehood tradition, CE Report quotes HINA.

That is precisely why we felt it was necessary to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of the Croatian kingdom here in the European Parliament, said Stier.

Even at that time, not only did we have a king, but Croatia already had dioceses, legal order, government, an army, and what is even more important is that, later on, through various political unions and centuries of dramatic change, we managed to preserve our identity, Ressler added.

Speakers at the event included the Apostolic Nuncio to Germany, Archbishop Nikola Eterović, Professor Dino Milinović from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb, Dr Mario Jareb from the Croatian Institute of History and the Society of Brethren of the Croatian Dragon, and Father Anastazio Petrić, head of the Croatian Catholic Mission in Brussels.

Before the ceremony, a Mass for the Homeland was celebrated by Archbishop Eterović.

foto CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON