page_title: Twelve Generals' Letter
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Twelve Generals' Letter / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: President Stjepan Mesic of the Republic of Croatia, in the Pentagon on Aug. 8, 2000
context_page_description: The Twelve Generals' Letter was an open letter, signed by twelve generals of the Republic of Croatia Armed Forces, that criticized the government, politicians and media for perceived criminalization of the Croatian War of Independence and asserted that war veterans had suffered undignified treatment. On 29 September 2000, a day after the letter was published by the Croatian media, Croatian President Stjepan Mesić reacted by sending into forced retirement all seven of the signatories who were active-duty officers. The affair was a source of significant controversy in Croatia and is considered one of the key events in Mesić's ten-year presidential incumbency.
context_section_description: On several occasions it was speculated that the retired generals might return to active duty.  On 2 October 2000, President Mesić hinted that his decision might not yet be final for Maj. Gen. Krstičević, stating that Krstičević's fate depended on "his further conduct". At 33 years of age, he was the youngest among the signatories, and was – apart from Nojko Marinović – the only general from the Tuđman era with no party affiliation. Krstičević declined Mesić's implicit offer, saying that he had "nothing to repent for".
  In the 2003 election campaign, Ivo Sanader, president of the HDZ, announced the possibility of reactivating the generals. However, according to Nacional weekly, Sanader abandoned the idea due to his inability to implement it against the wish of President Mesić, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
  The issue was raised again in the 2009/2010 presidential election. Three presidential candidates, Milan Bandić, Andrija Hebrang and Nadan Vidošević, stated that, if elected, they would rehabilitate the generals and return some of them to active duty. The eventual winner of the election, Ivo Josipović, rejected this suggestion, saying that the generals' retirement was final.
  Mesić's decision to retire the generals is widely seen as one of the most important events of his presidency. Stjepan Mesić's successor Ivo Josipović stated that this was Mesić's best move in both of his five-year terms, while Croatian military analyst Igor Tabak described it as a "hard decision to take", since it came early in the Mesić's first term, and went against an old authoritarian system that was still strong.  The move is seen as important in the context of the depoliticisation of the armed forces and defence reforms that ultimately led to the accession of Croatia to NATO in 2009.  On the other hand, Mesić's critics contend that the supposed "coup" was non-existent and that his decision was essentially a continuation of anti-military sentiment which the generals had to publicly address as their patriotic duty.
caption: One year into his first term, Stjepan Mesić said that retiring the generals was one of the best moves he had made as a president.[13]
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