But today it is Croatian Knin and never again it will go back to what was before, when they spread cancer which has been destroying Croatian national… - Franjo Tuđman

Despite the inalienable right of the Croatian people -one of the oldest European peoples - to self-determination and to the renewal of their own State, despite the blatant barbaric aggression aimed at territorial conquest, the genocidal expulsion of the population and the destruction of the most precious cultural heritage of the Croatian people, such as Vukovar and Dubrovnik, the Croats would never have won the right to self-determination, to their State, to freedom and independence, had they not been prepared to make human and material sacrifices, had they not shown a firm nation-building will, with which they have resolutely asserted themselves as a member of the international community, while manifesting their readiness to be a constructive force in the development of the new international order to replace the unviable and failed old system.

In this difficult moment and at a historical turning point, I call on you, brothers and sisters, to fulfill your sacred duty in defending the homeland. Let us be united in the fight for the freedom of our Croatian country, our sea and sky over our only and eternal Croatia.

Tuđman is a nationalist leader who made some very bad mistakes early in his presidency toward Croatia's Serbian minority. He also advocated a partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Serbia and Croatia. He has given at least passive support to Croatian military forces in Bosnia. That said, he is a man who has learned from his mistakes.