Croatia celebrates the Day of Victory and Homeland Gratitude, the Day of Croatian Veterans and the 28th anniversary of the "Storm" action.
At the celebration, the Croatian state leadership sent messages about what the "Storm" was and what it represents for Croats.
The central "Storm" celebration is traditionally organized in Knin, and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Croatia will never allow an attack on that action or accept indictments from Belgrade.
Plenković called Oluja a turning point that marked the end of the Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia, and he said that 1995 was probably the most important year in modern Croatian history, that year, with the liberation of the territories, Croatia returned to normal life.
He thanked the veterans and those who wove their lives in Croatia, because without them there would be no sovereign Croatian state, no development, no progress.
"Storm is a liberation action, the foundation of Croatian freedom and state, and Croatia will never allow anyone to attack "Storm" and Croatian defenders, soldiers and policemen," said Plenković, referring to yesterday's messages from Prijedor.
We will never accept the indictments that come from the prosecutor's office in Belgrade, from Serbia, which aspires to be a regional prosecutor and judge, emphasized Planković.
"It won't work that way. And therefore, until now, we have taken all measures to neither consider nor accept such indictments," he said, alluding to the indictment against a group of Croatian commanders and pilots whom Serbia accused of war crimes in the attack on a refugee camp during the "Storm" on Petrovac roads.
The President of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, said that without Croatia's victory in the "Storm", there would not have been a Dayton Peace Agreement in BiH and emphasized that people continue to return to Knin, which is the result of the work of all governments and the mood of the Croatian people.
"The victory was great and it was difficult. When we talk about the truth, the truth should be told in its entirety. Croatia's victory made the Dayton Peace Agreement possible, but that is a very defensive claim. She didn't make it possible, but it wouldn't have happened without her," said Milanović.
Memorial for those killed in the "Storm"
Bishop Stefan of Remezia, on behalf of Serbian Patriarch Porfiri, served a memorial service in the Church of Saint Mark in Belgrade for those killed in the Croatian military operation "Storm".
Family members of the martyred and exiled and representatives of the association laid wreaths at the monument to the Serbs who died during the wars of the 1990s.
"There is no justice for the Serbian victims and that is why it is very important that Serbia and the Republika Srpska together at the state level mark the day of remembrance of the suffering and persecution of the Serbian people from the territory of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, but also from the territory of the whole of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Double standards prevail in the western part of the international community. Serbs are still considered to be the biggest culprits for the wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. In Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, war criminals are celebrated, Bosniak and Croat victims are honored, and unfortunately Serb victims are belittled," said Miodrag Linta, president of the Association of Serbs from the region.
The central ceremony marking the Day of Remembrance of Serbs martyred and exiled in the armed action "Storm" was held yesterday in Prijedor. The ceremony was attended by the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik of the Republika Srpska, members of the government, as well as Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, who served a memorial service for the victims.
A minute's silence was observed for all victims of the "Storm" operation.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said at the commemoration of the anniversary of the persecution of Serbs in the Croatian action "Storm", that this crime was the biggest ethnic cleansing in Europe since 1945.
In his address to the gathered, Patriarch Porfirius said that today we are gathered in prayerful remembrance of the exiles.
BG/N1/RTS/FoNet
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