30 Years Since Croatian Storm Operation

Marking 27th Anniversary of Operation Storm (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Zvonko KUCELIN)

Three decades have elapsed on Aug. 4 since the launch of the Croatian military-police operation Storm, (Oluja), which led to the exodus of more than 200,000 Serbs from Croatia, and brought an end to the country’s war for independence.

In Serbia, the anniversary is observed on Aug. 4, the day the operation began, as a Day of Remembrance to commemorate the Serbs killed or expelled during the operation. Croatia celebrates Aug. 5, the day its forces entered an almost deserted Knin and raised the Croatian flag over the Knin Fortress, as Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders.

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic, speaking at a remembrance event held near the Church of St. Mark following a memorial service, called for less pro-Serb rhetoric and more action, advising that one should always mourn in silence. As he put it, those who mourn too loudly are often seeking “publicity and profit.”

“Wherever there was too much Serb nationalist zeal, there wouldn’t be too many of us left there,” Sapic cautioned.

Commemorative events marking the anniversary of Oluja were also organized by student groups and civic associations in Novi Sad.

The official state ceremony commemorating the Day of Remembrance for all those killed and expelled in the Storm operation, jointly organized by Serbia and Republika Srpska, was held in Sremski Karlovci, on Aug. 3.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, speaking at the event, said that most of the Serbian people did not want to renounce their Serbian names and identities, but to those who were “calling for another Oluja” in Serbia and Republika Srpska, he said that “no new Oluja will succeed.”

Republika Srpska’s President Milorad Dodik also addressed the gathering, stating that Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina needed “a kind of political offensive” because otherwise “they will not be able to defend themselves.”