ZAGREB, Oct 29, 2025 (AFP) - The remains of a Frenchman who joined Croatian forces during the 1990s war were found and identified 34 years after he was killed in the town of Vukovar, a minister said Wednesday.

Jean-Michel Nicolier, born in Vesoul in eastern France, joined the Croatian forces at the start of the war in July 1991, when he was 25 years old.

He was seriously wounded on the Vukovar front on November 9, 1991, and taken to the eastern town's hospital.

But the town fell to rebel Serb and Yugoslav Army forces, and he was among more than 200 people who were taken to a nearby pig farm days later and murdered.

His remains along with those of two Croatians were found near a road at Ovcara in late September, Veterans Minister Tomo Medved told a press conference in Vukovar.

The remains of another Croatian figher were found at a nearby landfill and all four victims died violent deaths, he said.

DNA analysis established that one the three found at Ovcara was Nicolier, the minister said.

"He was not born in Croatia, but he left his heart here and gave his life for it," Medved said. "His mother... has finally learned the truth."

Nicolier's mother Lyliane Fournier and other relatives arrived in Vukovar on Wednesday.

Nicolier was posthumously decorated in 2011 by the then Croatian president Ivo Josipovic for the "exceptional courage and heroism" during the defence of Vukovar.

Three years later a Vukovar bridge was named after him.

Nicolier was among around 480 foreign volunteers from 35 countries who joined the Croatian forces during the war.

Croatia's proclamation of independence from the former Yugoslavia sparked the 1991-1995 war with Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs who opposed the move. The conflict claimed 20,000 lives.

Vukovar was captured after a three-month-long siege by the Belgrade-controlled Yugoslav army and Serb rebels during which it was practically razed to the ground.

Around 1,600 people, including 1,100 civilians, were killed during the siege.

After the fall of the town, it became the symbol of Crotia sufferings during the war, some 22,000 non-Serbs were expelled from the area.

Nearly 500 people from the Vukovar region are still reported missing.