Even twenty years ago, it was known that the brutal attack of the former JNA on Dubrovnik with the full political, military, logistical and every other support of Serbia and Montenegro was only part of the plan to occupy the southern part of Croatia in order to create Greater Serbia.
Two decades later, it can be asserted without any doubt that the military campaign in the extreme south of Croatia was carried out with the full consent of the then federal, Belgrade and Podgorica institutions, which openly put themselves at the service of Greater Serbia's conquest goals.
The "problem" of Prevlaka was invented, which served as a "casus belli" and an unconvincing justification for open aggression.
The so-called Operation Dubrovnik was conceived, planned and carried out in the political-military agreement of Belgrade, Podgorica and Trebinje.
This was emphasized, among other things, at the meeting "Reporting on the attacks on Dubrovnik and the international recognition of Croatia - 20 years later", which was organized by the Department of Communication of the University of Dubrovnik.
An unfulfilled dream
Historian and professor at the University of Zagreb, Ivo Banac, said that Dubrovnik "is the unfulfilled dream of Great Serbian ideologues, who were extremely hard hit by the military and political defeat in the south of Croatia during the collapse of the former SFRY".
The "problem" of Prevlaka was invented, which served as a "casus belli" and an unconvincing justification for open aggression.
Speaking about wartime 1991, when he lived and worked in the USA, Banac emphasized that the truth about the real causes of the disintegration of the SFRY and Milošević's destructive policy was difficult to get through to the Washington administration and the international community.
Branko Salaj, the Wartime Minister of Information in the Croatian Government, recalled the numerous wanderings of the centers of power at the time, but after Vukovar and especially Dubrovnik, the international community finally began to recognize the character of Milošević's politics.
And Dr. Albert Bing from the Croatian Institute of History in Zagreb said that the attack on Dubrovnik, especially on December 6, 1991 (the day when the people of Dubrovnik allegedly burned tires, op.) marked a turning point in the international community's understanding of wartime events in Croatia .
Brutal destruction
Berta Dragičević, the executive secretary of the Dubrovnik Interuniversity Center (IUC), which was completely burned during the war, recalled the great role of prof. Dr. Kathleen Wilkes.
In 91, she was the president of the Executive Board of the IUC, and with her letters to the university world, she greatly changed the image of the previous war in the former SFRY.
The so-called Operation Dubrovnik was conceived, planned and carried out in the political-military agreement of Belgrade, Podgorica and Trebinje.
Especially in Great Britain and the then London Government headed by Margaret Thatcher, emphasized Berta Dragičević.
As a war translator and liaison officer of the Croatian Army, Mišo P. Mihočević pointed out that "the attacked heart and mind won the battle against the madness of that time".
Mihočević emphasized that Italian Minister Margarita Boniver and French Minister Bernard Kušner, as well as UNICEF Special Envoy Stefan de Mistura, who personally came to Dubrovnik and saw the brutal destruction and suffering of the civilian population.
As Đukanović, Milošević, Bulatović spoke...
Dubrovnik war reporters Suad Ahmetović (Vjesnik), Vedran Benić (HTV) and Luko Brailo (Slobodna Dalmacija) spoke about their journalistic experiences from those days.
Despite the lack of telecommunication connections, as well as working in conditions without electricity and water, Dubrovnik's war journalists organized themselves and formed their own "pool" in order to deal with the frenzied propaganda from Belgrade, Podgorica, Novi Sad, Trebinje, etc.
In particular, they referred to the dishonorable and unprofessional reporting of the then Montenegrin state media (Pobjeda and TVCG) in inciting their citizens and reservists.
In particular, they referred to the dishonorable and unprofessional reporting of the then Montenegrin state media (Pobjeda and TVCG) in inciting their citizens and reservists during "Operation Dubrovnik".
They also documented the roles of Slobodan Milošević, Dragutin Zelenović, Veljko Kadijević, Blagoj Adžić, Milo Đukanović, Momir Bulatović, Svetozar Marović, Pavel Bulatović, Božidar Vučurević, General Jevrem Cokić and Pavel Strugar, Admiral Miodrag Jokić... and others. "prominent" characters from the war days.
There was no "war for peace" in the Dubrovnik region, as suggested by Svetozar Marović's blasphemous catchphrase.
The military campaign in the south of Croatia was not launched because allegedly 30.000 Ustaša attacked Montenegro
The military campaign in the south of Croatia was not launched because allegedly 30.000 Ustaša attacked Montenegro, allegedly because of blocked barracks, or because of the threatened Serbian-Montenegrin life in the south of Croatia.
Especially not because of Prevlaka, said Luko Brailo, Vijesti's associate from Dubrovnik.
From the summer and fall of '91, it was an organized political-military action by the state and military leadership of the former SFRY whose goal was to occupy the area from Konaval to Split, in order to then blackmail Croatia and the international community with renegotiations of "demarcation" dictated from Belgrade and Podgorica. , Brailo said.
The meeting ends with work on Sunday.
Bonus video:
