Klapa “Kaše” sang the anthems of Montenegro, Croatia, and the EU

On Tuesday, May 30, 2023, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Podgorica held a formal reception to mark Statehood Day and 10 years of membership of the Republic of Croatia in the European Union. During the reception, there was a performance by the Dubrovnik klapa Kaša. More than 500 guests attended the formal celebration, which took place at the Knjaz Estate, among which were high-ranking officials, the diplomatic community, military and security officials, many politicians, media representatives, members of the Croatian community in Montenegro, representatives of the business community, as well as and many Montenegrin institutions, religious communities and presidents of municipalities in Montenegro. Klapa Kaša performed the Croatian and Montenegrin national anthems and the Ode to Joy, after which Ambassador Grubišić addressed the crowd. During the reception, those gathered enjoyed the performance of the Kaša band and Croatian wines from Slavonia and Istria. And this year, the reception was financially supported by the following companies: Hipotekarna banka, Erste banka, Kimtec, VOLI, Mercator, T-com, INA Montenegro, Podravka Montenegro, ATACO, CEMEX, Kutjevo doo, Ledo Montenegro, Damjanić vina, West Point, Marinetek, Feal and Infinum.

In his speech, Ambassador Grubišić thanked the “Kaše” choir, saying that many claim that no one knows how to sing the national anthem of Montenegro as beautifully as the “Kaše” choir: “Today is the 33rd anniversary of the re-establishment of the multi-party parliament in Croatia. framework, the Croatian Parliament has been the bearer of Croatian identity, only in these areas, since the

8th century and has lasted continuously since 1918. In two years, we will mark the 1100th anniversary of the coronation of King Tomislav. In a month, we will mark 10 years of membership in the European Union, and 14 years of membership in NATO have passed. We hoped that on the tenth anniversary of EU membership, we would welcome Montenegro as a full member of the European Union. By becoming a member of NATO, we joined the powerful alliance, which today, together with Finland, comprises 31 countries, of course including Montenegro. We hope that friendly Sweden will join us soon. The NATO alliance is a defense alliance for the entire Euro-Atlantic area that starts from the Tropic of Cancer and ends at the North Pole, so it also covers all the Mediterranean African countries. It is a great thing for Croatia that we can say that we are allies with the powerful USA. We have a lot of ties with them, about a million Americans are of Croatian origin. (...) Last year was very fruitful for Croatia. With the construction of the Pelješki bridge, which was mostly financed by the European

Union, the Croatian mainland was finally joined. This architectural beauty was designed by a Slovenian architect and was excellently built on time by the Chinese corporation CRBC, which means that in addition to Marco Polo, we now have a new link with China.

Croatia fully integrated into the European Union by joining the Schengen Area and the Eurozone and recently also in the European Stabilization Mechanism. We are proud to be integrated into the Union with 26 other excellent countries. We are happy that the Croatian language is one of the 23 official languages of the European Union. It is worth mentioning that the Croats were the only people under the auspices of the Catholic Church who had permission from the Vatican to celebrate the Holy Mass in the old church Croatian language, while all other Catholic nations were obliged to celebrate the Holy Mass in the Latin language. Allow me to express my deepest condolences to Ukraine for the tragedy and pain experienced by its people. In honor of them, I will say a few verses from the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko: “When I die, bury me in the middle of the vast steppes, around me may the beautiful Ukraine spread, so that from the grave I can look at the meadows and fields and listen to the noisy Dnieper as much as I like.” he said is, among other things, in his inspired speech, Ambassador Grubišić. Finally, he thanked his wife Marta, who is also the head of the Consular Department at the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Tirana.