CROATIAN MILITARY OPERATION “STORM” WAS GENOCIDE

BELGRADE, AUGUST 2 /SRNA/ - Serbs from Croatia believe that the Croatian military operation "Storm" was genocide and that Serbia should also call it that, it was said at today's press conference in Belgrade organized by the Association "Zavičaj" and the Coordination of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Serbia.

It was also emphasized that the Croatian military operation "Storm," in which more than 250,000 Serbs were expelled from the territory of the Republic of Serbian Krajina /RSK/ in August 1995, is a crime that continues and serves as a warning. The president of the Coordination of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Serbia, Milan Žunić, has said that this genocide was systematically and deliberately carried out from 1991 to 1995, and that "Storm" was merely the culmination and completion of the planned project "Croatia without Serbs," which dates back to the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/. He emphasized that the most convincing evidence of this is provided by the figures from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, as according to the 1991 census, there were 687,704 Serbs in Croatia, a number that had fallen to 201,631 by 2001. "Where did half a million Serbs disappear to in ten years, primarily from the compact territory on which this people had lived for centuries? What is this sudden disappearance of an indigenous people from a territory called in scholarly literature if not genocide?" Žunić asked. At a conference held to mark the 29th anniversary of the pogrom of the Serbian people from the Republic of Serbian Krajina, the president of the Association "Zavičaj" Nenad Abramović reminded that on August 4, 1995, the Republic of Serbian Krajina /RSK/ was attacked by 220,000 members of Croatian forces and around 20,000 members of the so-called BiH Army under the command of the notorious General Atif Dudaković. He added that the attack was carried out with the logistical support of NATO, which bombed Serbian military radars and cut off communication between Serbian units, while the government of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia did not even consider sending military aid to the RSK. Abramović pointed out that the ratio of forces was 13:1 in favor of the Croats, giving the Serbs no chance, resulting in the rapid fall of Knin and other areas, and the expulsion of Serbs within a few days. He emphasized that this was not the only ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Croatia, as they were first expelled from large cities and later through criminal actions in Western Slavonia, Maslenica, Ravni Kotari, Medak Pocket, Miljevci Plateau, and during Operation "Flash." "After the expulsion of the Serbian people from all these areas, more than 750,000 Serbs left the RSK. Serbian villages were burned down and looted, property was usurped, and Serbian children in Croatia were either converted or forced to hide their Serbian identity," said Abramović. He emphasized that the number of Serbs in Croatia fell below three percent after "Operation Storm" and other criminal actions, thereby allowing the then President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, to implement the ideology of Ante Starčević, which was continued by the Ustasha leader Ante Pavelić, saying that "one-third of Serbs should be killed, one-third expelled, and one-third converted to Catholicism." Abramović appealed to the Serbian Orthodox Church to designate a day for the martyrs of "Operation Storm" in the church calendar. He also called on the Serbian Ministry of Education to include the crimes against the Serbian people in the RSK in school textbooks, and urged every major city and municipality in Serbia to name a street after the victims of "Operation Storm." The president of the Red Berets Veterans Association Žika Ivanović emphasized that the historical injustice that befell the Krajina people would be corrected sooner or later, saying that the temporarily occupied territory of the RSK would be returned to the Serbian people. He called on the citizens of Serbia to come in large numbers to tomorrow's central event in Loznica commemorating the 29th anniversary of the criminal operation "Storm" to honor the victims. He also urged them to attend the memorial service at St. Mark's Church in Belgrade on Sunday, August 4. The Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of Serbia Nataša Stanisavljević emphasized that the pogrom of the Serbian people in Croatia began on August 4, 1995, and that its consequences are still felt today. According to her, there are 24,862 people with refugee status in Serbia, of whom 17,052 are from Croatia and 7,810 from BiH, while around 8,000 refugee families are still waiting for housing solutions. "Remembering the pogrom of August 1995 is not only a reminder of tragic events from the past but also of those that continue to this day. It is our duty to never forget them and to fight for the truth," concluded Stanisavljević.