Two Sides of Operation Storm: Croatia Celebrates Victory Day, Serbia Commemorates Day of Persecution of Serbs from Krajina

By Haris Ljevo

Croatia today marks Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Operation Storm in which the Croatian army and police liberated areas in northern Dalmatia, Banovina, Lika, and Kordun after four years of occupation by rebellious Serbs, reports the Patria agency.

The Croatian state leadership, led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, laid wreaths at the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb, at the monument in the Alley of Fallen Croatian Defenders of the Homeland War, and at the grave of the first Croatian President Franjo Tuđman.

- We have come here to Mirogoj, on the day of the start of the military-police operation Storm, to pay tribute to all Croatian defenders, to all those who gave their lives and health, and everything they had for the freedom of our homeland, the Republic of Croatia, in defense against the Greater Serbian Milošević regime - said Croatian Prime Minister Plenković.

Plenković added that "Operation Storm contributed not only to the liberation of most of Croatia's occupied territories but also marked a strategic turning point in Bosnia and Herzegovina, preventing a new Srebrenica in Bihać, and thanks to Operation Storm, the Dayton and Paris Agreements were reached.".

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović also sent congratulations on Victory Day, emphasizing that "Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day is one of the most important dates in Croatian history.".

According to data from the Croatian Memorial Documentation Center of the Homeland War, the Croatian Army and special police units launched an attack on August 4, 1995, at 5 AM along the line from Bosanski Grahovo in the south to Jasenovac in the east, on a combat line over 630 kilometers long. Croatian forces in eastern Slavonia and southern Dalmatia were put on alert due to a possible attack by the Yugoslav Army and the Army of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The greatest success in the operation was achieved in the morning hours of August 5, when members of the 4th and 7th Guards Brigades of the Croatian Army (HV) liberated Knin. Due to its strategic and symbolic significance, the day of Knin's liberation was declared Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day in Croatia, and later Croatian Defenders' Day. In the following days, Croatian forces occupied the state border, secured it, and began searching the liberated areas of northern Dalmatia, Lika, Banovina, and Kordun.

At the same time, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina broke the siege of Bihać and prevented a new Srebrenica, or even worse crimes, given that there were far more people besieged in the Bihać area and surrounding places than in Srebrenica.

The operation was managed by the Chief of the General Staff of the HV, General Zvonimir Červenko, along with the state leadership under President Franjo Tuđman. The corps areas affected by the operation were commanded by Generals Ante Gotovina, Petar Stipetić, Miljenko Crnjac, Luka Džanko, and Mirko Norac, while the special police were led by General Mladen Markač. A total of about 200,000 people were in the Croatian forces.

In the document "Chronology of the Homeland War," published by the Croatian Memorial Documentation Center of the Homeland War on its website, it is stated that world leaders, especially US officials, generally showed understanding for the operation carried out.

Among other things, they said that "Croatia had given the international community enough time to resolve the conflict through negotiations, and that these had failed due to the uncompromising stance of the Krajina Serbs." Before the attack, Croatian soldiers were issued strict orders regarding the protection of civilians and civilian, especially religious (Orthodox) objects, and during the operation, the Croatian President's call to Croatian citizens of Serbian nationality to remain in Croatia was constantly repeated in the public media, as their civil rights were guaranteed by the Constitution and the Constitutional Law on Minorities.

Nevertheless, the majority of Serbs from the self-proclaimed "Krajina" in Croatia, at the request of their political and military leadership, left Croatia. The order to evacuate Serbs from the so-called Krajina was signed by Serbian General Mile Mrkšić; Milan Martić, the president of Krajina, also signed it. UN representatives and the US Ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, confirmed that Serbian civilians had left the area of the so-called Krajina before the arrival of the HV, according to the Chronology.

The central ceremony commemorating the 22nd anniversary of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day will be held on August 5 in Knin. Unlike previous years, when the concert of the controversial Croatian singer Marko Perković Thompson was organized in Knin, this year the situation is slightly different, and Thompson will perform in Slunj.

And while a victorious atmosphere can be felt everywhere in Croatia, in Serbia tonight there will be a commemoration of the suffering and displaced Serbs from Croatia in Operation Storm.

At the FK Veternik stadium near Novi Sad, the Serbian state leadership and the highest political representatives of Serbs from Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina will give speeches in memory of the displaced Serbs, and a memorial service for the victims will be held, led by Patriarch Irinej.

In Veternik, chosen because more than 10,000 Serbs from Krajina found refuge there after Operation Storm, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, and President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik will speak, and member of the Presidency of BiH Mladen Ivanić and Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Crnadak will attend.

As in previous years, this year's celebration of Operation Storm in Croatia could not pass without confrontations. Namely, the Center for Dealing with Trauma Documenta filed criminal charges today with the State Attorney's Office in Zagreb for crimes committed against Serbian civilians during Operation Storm, which caused great revolt among defender associations, who described it as a deliberate provocation.

According to the testimonies of Serbs displaced from Croatia, the biggest losers are the ordinary people who easily fell for the stories of the leaders of the rebellious Serbs from Krajina and followed them to Serbia. Today, 22 years after Operation Storm, tens of thousands of people still live in collective refugee centers.

They claim that Serbia treats them as second-class citizens, and that many would gladly return to Croatia, but they are beginning to believe that it is too late, because by believing in a better life in Serbia, they missed the opportunity to rebuild their homes and return to Croatia.