ZAGREB, June 22 (Xinhua) -- "The victory over fascism was a prerequisite for building a democratic Europe," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told participants of the Anti-Fascist Struggle Day held Saturday in Brezovica near the city of Sisak.
The Prime Minister stressed that, on June 22, which is a state holiday, Croatia remembers the day when in 1941 the first anti-fascist unit in the occupied Europe was founded.
At the meeting in Brezovica were former Croatian presidents Stjepan Mesic and Ivo Josipovic, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic and government envoy, Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic.
The president of the Federation of Anti-Fascist Fighters of Croatia, Franjo Habulin, emphasized the importance of anti-fascism in today's times when Europe is facing an increasingly aggressive right.
Gordan Jandrokovic, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, stressed that "the values of anti-fascism have been built into the foundations of independent Croatia, and Croatia has made a great contribution to the resistance and the struggle against fascism in the then captured Europe."
The Anti-Fascist Struggle Day in Croatia is marked on June 22, when the first Sisak Partisan Detachment was established in Brezovica in 1941, which was the beginning of the organized resistance of Croatian anti-fascists in World War II.
