After the generals' release, the Croatian government dispatched the governmental Bombardier Challenger 600 plane along with the Minister of Defence, Ante Kotromanović, and the Minister of Veterans' Affairs, Predrag Matić, to bring Gotovina and Markač to Croatia. In Zagreb, they were greeted by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and the Speaker of Parliament Josip Leko. Around 100,000 people heard them speak at the Ban Jelačić Square, after which Cardinal Josip Bozanić held a mass for them at the Zagreb Cathedral. The two generals were then received by the President at the Presidential Palace where Gotovina said that the "Homeland War is now clean, it belongs to our history, it is a basis on which we build our future."