This historic parliamentary decision was preceded by the will of the Croatian people, clearly expressed in the referendum in which citizens made it clear that they did not want Croatia to remain within Yugoslavia as a unified federal state.
The outcome of the 19 May 1991 referendum paved the way for the parliamentary decisions on severing ties with the communist Yugoslav Federation and on gaining the country's independence and sovereignty.
A decision to hold the referendum had been made by President Franjo Tudjman during negotiations on solving the crisis in relations between the republics that made up the then Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).
The referendum offered two options.
The first asked voters if they were in favour of Croatia becoming a sovereign and independent state, guaranteeing cultural autonomy and civil rights to Serbs and other minorities in Croatia, free to form an association of sovereign states with other former Yugoslav republics. The second option asked voters whether they would prefer for Croatia to remain in Yugoslavia.
The electoral roll included 3,652,225 eligible voters who could go to the polls in 7,691 polling stations.
The question for the independence was answered in the affirmative by 2,845,521 voters, that is 93.24% of the 3,051,881 voters who went to the polls. There were 126,630 people who voted against independence (4.15%). And, there were 1.18% invalid ballots.
Also, as many as 92.18% of those who went to the polls confirmed that "the Republic of Croatia shall not remain in Yugoslavia as a unified federal state."
The Declaration of Independence was announced by the first President of Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, in an address broadcast by radio and television on 25 June 1991.
"It is with undisguised satisfaction and pride that we are notifying all republics and federal bodies of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the whole world about the sovereign will of the Croatian people and all citizens of the Republic to declare the Republic of Croatia an independent and sovereign state on this day, and we are inviting the governments and parliaments of all states to accept and recognise the free decision of the Croatian people, an act of freedom whereby one more nation wants to become a full member of the international community of the free world," Tudjman said then.
Through the mediation of the international community, the entry into force of the constitutional decision of 25 June 1991 was delayed for three months to facilitate disassociation negotiations among the former Yugoslav republics.
Upon the expiry of the moratorium on that historic decision, on 8 October 1991, the day after JNA aircraft bombed the Banski dvori, where the Croatian state leadership was located at the time, the Republic of Croatia severed its state and legal ties with the other republics and became a free, independent, and sovereign state.