Plenković has a message for Vučić and Dodik: It won't go like that

(Patria) - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated today that Croatia will never allow an attack on Operation "Storm", nor accept indictments from Belgrade, responding to yesterday's messages from Prijedor about "Storm" as the biggest ethnic cleansing in Europe.

Addressing the commemoration of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Croatian Veterans Day and the 28th anniversary of Operation "Storm" in Knin, Plenković said that these are messages that often, at this time of year, aim to diminish the significance of "Storm" or, even worse, qualify it as criminal.

The authorities of Serbia and Republika Srpska yesterday organized a joint commemoration in Prijedor of August 4th as the "day of the persecution of Serbs from Croatia". Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that "Storm" was the largest ethnic cleansing in Europe after World War II, while the leader of Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, called the operation a joint criminal enterprise for which he blamed Croatia, but also the USA.

- Today we clearly tell everyone, and especially those who said it yesterday - "Storm" was an liberation operation, the foundation of Croatian freedom, "Storm" is the foundation of the Croatian state, and Croatia will never allow anyone to attack "Storm", Croatian veterans, soldiers, police officers - Plenković said.

Likewise, he added, "we will never accept indictments coming from the prosecutor's office in Belgrade, from Serbia, which pretends to be a regional prosecutor and judge.

- It won't go like that. And therefore, we have taken all measures so far not to even consider or accept such indictments. This is an important message for those who secured freedom for Croatia - Plenković stated.

He emphasized that Croatian governments and parliaments have shown strength in respecting national minorities, including the Serbian national minority, and the return process that occurred after 1995 testifies to this.

- And precisely on this path of building a democratic Croatia in which all Croatian citizens are respected, the Constitution, laws, we will build a society, aware of our fundamental values, freedom, but also respecting members of national minorities. This is a modern Croatia, a European Croatia that will strengthen its resilience in the years to come - Plenković added.