Turbulence for decades after Storm

As expected and sure enough, the anniversary of Operation Storm this year once again served as a source of political disputes between official Zagreb and Belgrade. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić once again lashed out at the celebration of the Croatian liberation action from 1995 as a "crime against Serbs", and even indirectly threatened with a statement about today's intensive arming of Serbia. The Croatian state leadership, however, rejected his words as a provocation. However, immediately afterwards it faced outbursts from the extreme right within its own ranks and outside them, and certainly within the circle of the central celebration of Operation Storm in Knin.

Once again, the fact was confirmed that the Croatian authorities, although they deny any connection with the fascist legacy of the Ustasha regime from World War II, at the same time they quite benevolently support the promotion of their symbols. And this more or less regardless of whether it is in the form of greetings, songs or symbols. Undoubtedly, Serbs are the main target of this notorious, genocidal ideology. In addition, Croatia is still carrying a heavy burden from Operation Storm itself: a multitude of crimes against Serbian civilians committed during and after that action, for which no one has been convicted.

Vučić has enough material

“Vučić’s reaction was predictable, given how prone he is to exploiting every opportunity. But as far as the Croatian side is concerned, they have already made sure that he doesn’t run out of ideas,” political analyst and international relations expert Božo Kovačević told us. This former Croatian politician and diplomat believes that the Republic of Croatia’s dealing with its recent past is very incomplete and chronically selective. He is also convinced that a large part of the problem lies in allowing, especially in recent years, the values ​​and symbolism associated with the dark Ustasha past to be affirmed.

"Our current government clearly wants to be the heir to both the Homeland War that ended with Operation Storm," he continued, "and the political forces that created the Independent State of Croatia. After all, the first Croatian president, Franjo Tuđman, was ambivalent about that Ustasha creation. His party, the HDZ, which is still in power today, is the main representative of such a current in Croatia." This is also the main reason, in the opinion of this commentator, why the HDZ has been unable to gain the desired image and reputation of a classic traditionalist, conservative party for decades.

One of the main problems is the accusation that the Republic of Croatia is ignoring the liquidations of hundreds of Croatian Serbs and complicity in the exodus of the vast majority of others. On the other hand, in Serbia, one can hardly hear anything about the ethnic cleansing of Croats, carried out in the four-year period before Operation Storm. And Serbia also has something like “its own Ustashas” that it is rehabilitating today: the fascist Chetnik movement from World War II. In both centers of political power, both countries most often bypass their own war guilt and responsibility, and are happy to point out the guilt of the other.

Tuđman wanted to – but he didn't want to

"Croatia has thus forever preserved the reason for justified complaints against it. They don't even have to be malicious complaints like these Vučić's, if we know how much butter he himself has on his head," Krunislav Olujić, former president of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, told us. He took up this position at the end of the war, and before that, among other things, he also held the position of Chief State Prosecutor.

He spoke publicly and explicitly on several occasions about his dissatisfaction with the way the state dealt with the crimes of its own soldiers, and about conflicts with the highest Croatian officials of the time.

"A day or two after the Croatian Army entered Knin in 1995, I went there to reintegrate the local judiciary into the Croatian judicial system. I was very ashamed of everything I saw along the way, the looting and burning for the rest of my life. General Čermak could not receive me because he was, like, on a field rehabilitation project - he avoided me. I returned to Šibenik, then flew back to Zagreb. That same evening, Tuđman received me, when he heard why I wanted to see him. He then started yelling at me, as soon as I asked for order to be restored in the liberated zones," Olujić recalled.

"He asked me who would judge the victorious army, and he himself said that such and such would not be found. I just told him that he would. And he was found, while he was still alive. And I am really not sure that he would not have been indicted, along with some other leaders of other countries, if he had not died at the end of that decade," testified Krunislav Olujić. However, he also confirmed one of his old allegations: Tuđman had previously ordered him to record and sanction the crimes of members of the Croatian army. Olujić added that he could not believe that Tuđman had "turned the tables" immediately after Operation Storm.

Interpretations for the domestic public only

This was followed by a conflict between the political leadership, led by Franjo Tuđman, and the highest instance of the judicial authority, which was authorized to cooperate with the International Tribunal in The Hague, including the extradition of indictees. Olujić then parted ways with the state leadership and left the HDZ. "We will remain at that, but I am afraid that Croatia will also remain in the positions it took at that time. The current Prime Minister and head of the HDZ, Andrej Plenković, has taken a drastic right turn, where any extensive Croatian war crimes are denied, and he has also chosen an adequate chief prosecutor," he stated.

That for most Croatian citizens, Operation Storm first and foremost meant and still means a return to normality from the previous war and occupation reality, believes historian Jakša Raguž from the Croatian Institute of History in Zagreb. According to his insight, Serbia does not even want to look back on everything that preceded Operation Storm – the wars in four countries that emerged from the previous common state, which were provoked by its political leadership. “However, in Croatia, the celebration of Operation Storm is used for showdowns within the domestic political elite,” he noted, “and without any particular focus on the Serbian side, but rather internally.”

"Certain political groups believe they can profit from presenting themselves as extra-patriots in relation to the remaining Croatian groups. The Serbian side, which launched the rebellion, was defeated anyway and is now more of a collateral group. However, there is still individual responsibility for all crimes, so I can agree with them that the judiciary of the Republic of Croatia has not exactly done its job in this area," Raguž told DW. Finally, he reminded us that only two people have been convicted so far for all the crimes recorded against Serbs in Operation Storm.