Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated today in Knin that the military-police operation "Storm" of August 1995 destroyed the project of a greater Serbia and changed the military and geopolitical order of Southeast Europe.
At the central event marking the 30th anniversary of the military-police operation "Storm", Victory and Homeland Gratitude Day and Croatian Defenders' Day, Plenković said that in August 1995, the "united strength of the Croatian people" "liberated occupied towns and villages, defeated the aggressor and returned life and pride to the exiles," the HINA agency reports.
Addressing the crowd at the Dinara football club stadium, Plenković said that "Storm" was at that moment "the largest land battle in Europe since World War II, which shattered the Greater Serbia project, defeated the aggressor, changed the military and geopolitical order of Southeast Europe, determined the fate of Croatia and enabled the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
"Storm not only liberated Croatia, it also prevented a new tragedy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It opened the way for the return of Croatian exiles to their homes and the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, the return of Vukovar and the establishment of Croatian authority throughout the territory," he said, Beta reports.
He added that after the war, Croatia "also enabled the return of Croatian Serbs who wanted it", stating that it had thereby "demonstrated political maturity, moral responsibility and human generosity".
He said that "the sacrifice of all who gave their lives for the freedom of Croatia" represents "a vow of gratitude because thanks to them, Croatia became its own, sovereign and free," stating that the 1.744 missing persons that Croatia is searching for must not be forgotten.
"We expect Belgrade to finally show true willingness to cooperate, because without the full truth about the missing, there can be no honest relations or European future," said Plenković.
Plenković also said that, although 30 years have passed since "Storm", memories are still vivid "of those days of pride and glory."
"Every year we gather here in Knin with the same feelings, pride in victory, gratitude to the defenders and reverence for the fallen. But today, on this anniversary of Croatia's greatest victory, we do not come just to remember. We come to confirm what Operation Storm means to us, what it obliges us to do and what it teaches us," said Plenković.
He also stated that "Storm" confirmed "the Croatian strength that does not enslave, but liberates, the strength that does not threaten, but protects, the strength that does not destroy, but creates."
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Croatian military-police operation "Storm", the European Parliament's envoy for Serbia, Tonino Picula, stated that the commitment to peace, strengthening democracy and balanced economic prosperity should be permanent landmarks in the development of Croatian society, Beta reports.
"It has been 30 years since Operation Storm, a military-police operation crucial to the liberation of occupied areas of Croatia. Commitment to peace, strengthening democracy and balanced economic prosperity should be permanent landmarks in the development of our society, especially today when these values are under increasing pressure," he wrote on Iks alongside a photo of himself from the war in which he poses in a military uniform with a rifle in his hands.
He thanked everyone who, as he stated, made their contribution to defending the sovereignty and freedom of the Republic of Croatia.
"I congratulate all citizens, and especially my fellow soldiers, on Victory and Homeland Gratitude Day and Croatian Defenders' Day," he added.
Croatia marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm today, commemorating August 5, 1995, when Croatian forces entered an almost empty Knin and raised the Croatian flag on the Knin Fortress.
Operation Storm, which led to the exodus of more than 200.000 Serbs from Croatia and the end of that country's war for independence, began on August 4, 1995, in the early morning, with an offensive by the Croatian army and police and units of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) against the areas of Banija, Kordun, Lika and northern Dalmatia, which were part of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina.
With this operation, in which 138.500 members of the Croatian army, police and HVO participated, Croatia established control over the last parts of the territory held by members of the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina.
The Croatian government, led by then-President Franjo Tuđman, declared the end of Operation Storm on the evening of August 7th, although sporadic clashes continued until August 14th.
Operation Storm is considered one of the most brutal ethnic cleansing operations in the former Yugoslavia. The International Court of Justice in The Hague also qualified Operation Storm as an ethnic cleansing operation in its February 2015 ruling.
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