KAJEVIĆ: OPERATION STORM THE RESULT OF BACKROOM DEALS BY WESTERN POWERS

EAST SARAJEVO, AUGUST 4 /SRNA/ – Historian Delibor Kajević told SRNA that the criminal Croatian military Operation Storm was the result of backroom dealings by Western powers, and emphasized that the terrible exodus of Serbs from Republika Srpska Krajina 30 years ago remains an open wound.

Kajević pointed out that during the criminal Operation Storm, the Serbs lost their allies, and in the end, their territory as well but were spared a new Jasenovac, Jadovno, Pag, or other execution sites for Serbs, which, he says, are the persistent goals of the Ustaša ideology. “It is painful to mention August 4, 1995, every year and the terrible exodus of Krajina Serbs,” he said. Kajević argues that in 1918, Serbian nobility made a costly mistake, because at that time Serbs had the opportunity to form their own state with clear territory and borders. Instead, they built a state with unconfirmed friends and "brothers," a decision that, over the last 100 years, has backfired on them three times. "Neither God nor history forgives that easily. We entered those unfortunate 1990s quite unprepared, coming out of communism denationalized. After the Turks left these regions, we were spiritually strong, but after communism, we became small and incapable of making great national decisions," Kajević assessed. According to him, such a failed policy hit Republika Srpska Krajina the hardest - a region that, though blameless, was stripped of its territory and is now, as he put it, "paraded upon by those who do not deserve it". He warned that current economic and political developments in the region are not favourable for the Serb people or their path rooted in Saint Sava's legacy, but stressed that this is not an insurmountable obstacle for the honourable Serb nation. "We Serbs are a long-suffering, brave, and martyrdom-tested people who emerge stronger from every trial. Serbia and Republika Srpska have the strength and will to resist both external and internal pressures and challenges. Kosovo and Metohija are our shared and painful wound, one that we will heal and return that territory to Serbia, where it has belonged for centuries," Kajević stated. The criminal Operation Storm began on August 4, 1995, with an offensive by the Croatian Army and Police, along with HVO units, in the areas of Banija, Lika, Kordun, and north Dalmatia. The next day, August 5, Croatian forces entered the nearly abandoned town of Knin and raised the Croatian flag, while convoys of refugees were crossing Serb-controlled territories in BiH heading toward Serbia. According to Veritas, more than 220,000 Serbs were expelled during the Storm. 1,903 names are registered as killed or missing during and after the operation - of whom 1,247 /66%/ were civilians, around three-quarters of whom were over 60 years old. In a 2015 ruling, the International Court of Justice classified Operation Storm as ethnic cleansing, but not as genocide, although global experts in the field argue that the operation bore all the elements of genocide.