NGOs Lambast Zagreb, Belgrade over Commemorations of Operation Storm

Oluja (BETAPHOTO/HINA/ Mario STRMOTIC)

The regimes of Croatia and Serbia have used the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm to each in its own way demonstrate chauvinism and a complete abdication of responsibility toward the victims, the Zagreb and Belgrade branches of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) stated on Aug. 6.

“In this tone of commemoration, statements by Croatian officials make no mention of the exodus and killings of Serbian civilians, nor the later prevention of their return. Similarly, statements by Serbian officials make no mention of responsibility for the joint criminal enterprise that resulted in the creation of the so-called Republic of [Serb] Krajina (RSK), nor of the torture and forced mobilization of [Serb] refugees from Croatia,” reads a statement published on the YIHR website.

Commenting on Serbia’s memorial service, held in Sremski Karlovci and titled ‘Storm Is Pogrom – We Remember Forever,’ the YIHR claimed the event was utilized by President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik “as an opportunity to openly mock the rule of law in light of the final conviction” levied against Dodik by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Conducted in early August 1995 by Croatian armed forces and police, Operation Storm led to the exodus of over 200,000 Serbs from what was then the Republic of Serb Krajina.

Since the war in Croatia ended – not long after Storm – the operation has been celebrated in Croatia as Victory Day, while Serbia considers it Europe’s largest ethnic cleansing event after the Second World War.