Croatian MZT coach Ante Nazor who just won the Macedonian championship surprised his club bosses by requesting to lay flowers on the gravestone of Macedonian Admiral and one time head of the Macedonian Army Dragoljub Bocinov.
Most Macedonians, know very little about Bocinov, but that’s not the case in Croatia.
In 1991, when Croatia declared its independence, there was major presence of the Yugoslav Army both on the ground and at sea.
In the coastal city of Split, Admiral Dragoljub Bocinov was in charge of the Navy. In 1991, Bocinov received orders from Belgrade for his navy ships to bomb Split’s Parliament, museums, main post office, military garrisons, police stations and essentially everything in between which would have resulted in many civilian casualties.
Bocinov refused the order which infuriated Belgrade. The city itself was saved, but the Macedonian Admiral received 18 months jail time out of which 9 months were served in Belgrade. A small price to pay for what could have been a disaster for Split and its residents.
Bocinov returned to Macedonia after spending 9 months in jail. Immediately upon his return Gligorov appointed him as the top general in the country. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 70.
