Zagreb, Croatia -- In Croatian, the official title of this long 2-storied baroque building is "Banski dvori" which means "palace of the ban." Bans lived here from 1809 when it was built until 1918 when Yugoslavia was formed. Under the "second" (communist) Yugoslavia, it housed the president of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. The Serb-dominated Yugoslav army shelled the building with rockets in 1991, trying to kill Croatia's newly elected president, Franjo Tuđman and several other prominent leaders. The next day, the new parliament declared Croatia independent. A year later, the president moved his residence to an upscale neighborhood in Zagreb; but this building is still considered to be the headquarters of the Croatian government.Note both of these buildings sport the European Union blue flag -- a bit prematurely as Croatia (like Turkey) is only a candidate for membership in the EU. Its admission was delayed when it misplaced one of its generals accused of war crimes.
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