ĆOSIĆ: "STORM" - OPERATION OF CLASSIC ETHNIC CLEANSING OF SERBS

EAST SARAJEVO, AUGUST 3 /SRNA/ – Mayor of East Sarajevo, Ljubiša Ćosić, told SRNA that Serbs will never forget the criminal Croatian Operation Storm in Republika Srpska Krajina, during which the Serb people was ethnically cleansed from areas where they had lived for centuries, and will always insist on the truth.

“The Serb people insist on preserving the memory of that time, the victims and suffering, while the direct perpetrators, have celebrated for the past 30 years the removal of Serbs from that territory and the erasure of all traces of their existence as a great success,” Ćosić said. He pointed out that the Serbs, as a people, have often in history been expelled from the lands they inhabited in efforts to reduce them to as little territory as possible. This, Ćosić said, was done solely because Serbs are an Orthodox, freedom-loving, and justice-seeking people, and because they were the most numerous ethnic group in the Balkans. “The goal was to reduce our numbers and the territories we live on. To a large extent, our enemies succeeded in that. However, we must continue to remain united within Republika Srpska, Serbia, even Montenegro, and have a shared view of what happened in the past,” Ćosić said. He noted that some people avoid acknowledging that Operation Storm involved ethnic cleansing of Serbs, which is why it’s important to commemorate these dates. “We need to show that we do not forget, must not forget, and oblige the future generations to remember and celebrate the memory of it. We should celebrate the centuries-long presence of Serbs in those areas and remind of the lasting shame of those who committed such acts,” Ćosić said, adding that the leaderships of Serbia and Republika Srpska are committed to this. If the Serbs want to survive in these regions, Ćosić emphasized, it’s crucial to show who the Serb people were, who they are today, and who they must be and that the suffering and sacrifice of the Serbs must never be forgotten. “We must never stop pointing the finger at the perpetrators, the real culprits, and the policies that led to the mass suffering of one people - where those retreating, fleeing from one area, were attacked, bombed, and killed,” Ćosić said. He stressed that future generations have a responsibility to remember, because if they forget, the same thing will happen elsewhere. 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. The International Court of Justice, in its February 2015 verdict, classified Operation Storm as ethnic cleansing but not as genocide, although global experts in the field argue that the operation had all the elements of genocide.