03.08.2025.

Remembrance Day honouring those killed and expelled during Operation Storm

A Remembrance Day ceremony honouring all those killed and expelled during Operation Storm, conducted by the Croatian armed forces on August 4, 1995, was held this evening in Sremski Karlovci.

The event titled “Storm is a Pogrom – We Will Forever Remember” was attended by the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of Serbia Đuro Macut, Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić, and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović.

The commemoration for the victims, along with a requiem mass offered by His Holiness Porfirije, the Serbian Patriarch, was attended by the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željka Cvijanović, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Nenad Stevandić, and the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković.

Addressing the audience, President Vučić remarked that “never before have so many people come together to honour the memory of the victims of Operation Storm as they have tonight. He went on to express deep gratitude to the Krajina Serbs now living in Serbia, thanking them, in his words, “for everything they have given to our country” and “for the love they have given to their Serbia”.

- The heart of the Krajina Serbs is vast, and within lives the deepest love for Serbia, for the Serbia they once dreamed of visiting once or twice a year, but to which they later had to flee to save their lives – President Vučić said and thanked the Krajina Serbs for their contribution to Serbia’s progress, for building it and working in it.

The President said that a great injustice had been done to the Serbs over the past thirty-plus years. He noted that, in addition to the seizure of their territory and the expulsion of the people, an insidious campaign had been waged – a campaign in which Serbs were portrayed as barbarians and villains, as a people to be crushed and beaten.

- They destroyed our Yugoslavia. “Why should Serbs live in one country?” they thought, “we will tear them apart and we will immediately recognize all those who had been our allies in the Second World War – those on the defeated side, those we had largely liberated and allowed to be counted among the victors.” – the President of Serbia said, adding that the Serbs were then told they had to accept this, and were persuaded with promises that Kosovo would not be taken from them.

Then, he emphasized, the conflict in Krajina erupted when the so-called pink zones, or protected areas, were established.

- After plans, plots and arrangements were made to dismantle Serbian Krajina, it was all carried out in just a matter of days. Serbia was weak, the world was unjust, and many seemed eager to bring an end to the story of Krajina. They ended it all in a few days and never again did anyone mention the so-called pink zones, the UN protected areas. No one cared that guarantees had been given – promises of safety and security, of peaceful mornings and calm, carefree nights for Serbian children – President Vučić said.

He added that no one ever spoke of it again – but rather described it as “magnificent” – to kill 2,500 people and expel 250,000.

- It was difficult for Serbs to witness all of that, it was painful for us to watch – and yet, we remained silent. They made us be silent. Serbs were repeatedly told to look to the future. “There will be no more wars, no more conflicts,” they said. “No one will touch your Kosovo – that is yours. There is Badinter’s Commission. Everything is fine. You have Republika Srpska, things are moving forward normally. But then those same voices told the Serbs that they could not keep Kosovo and Metohija after all – and that 14 percent of their territory had been taken from them.

He reminded those present that Serbia was then bombed – without the permission of the United Nations.

- After you killed our people, bombed our country, and forced our army to withdraw, you then told us – “Just change the government in Serbia, it’s a matter of democracy, Kosovo is yours.” And when the Serbs, for the umpteenth time, chose to believe your shameless and arrogant lies, it wasn’t long before you turned around and said – “Montenegro can’t stay with you either” – President Vučić added.

He reminded those present that Montenegro was then told to separate from “the villains” and to look toward the future, while Serbia was told it had finally gained its independence.

- Only two years later they said “Forget about your independence, we will take that 14 percent of your territory from you. We will tear away the heart and soul of your people – Kosovo and Metohija”. He stressed that, within just a month or two, 85 of the most developed, Western world countries rushed to recognize the independence of the so-called Kosovo.

- And even that wasn’t enough – neither before nor after. Just look at the fate of the presidents of Republika Srpska. Not one of them was allowed to complete their term in peace, with dignity. Not one of them who served that office with integrity was allowed to stay. We all remember how Radovan Karadžić was treated… Don’t make me remind you of the promises made to Biljana Plavšić – and where and how she ended up. Don’t make me remind you what they did to President Poplašen – simply because they no longer liked him or the way he governed. And now, look at what they are doing to President Dodik today. Serbs want their freedom. They love their freedom more than anything and they do not ask how much it costs.

He said he had heard enough lies - and that he could no longer tolerate them.

- Just imagine if in our own country someone were sentenced to a single day in prison for a verbal insult, for holding a different opinion – let alone if it were a municipal president, the president of a republic, an entity leader, or the president of another nation. They would accuse us of violating every international legal norm. They would threaten to drag us through Brussels, Washington, or wherever else they pleased. Please, don’t insult our intelligence. All along they have pursued a clear policy in which everyone else is allowed to grow stronger. Everyone – except Serbia.

He reminded everyone present of the elections held in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, which were acknowledged and accepted despite a voter turnout of only 2.5 percent and asked if that was what they called the rule of law and democracy.

- Shame on you. You dragged me to Moldova to tell me you would never accept that. That free, Western Europe would never recognize such a thing. You told me “Be patient. Just wait. New elections will be held soon. The Serbs will win – because they make up 95 to 98 percent of the population, depending on the municipality.” And have those new elections happened? No – they have not. For four years, those municipalities have been governed by occupiers. They found a few Serbian servants – just as the Nazis found some between 1941 and 1945, just as the Austrians had some in the First World War, and just as the Bulgarians had some during the Balkan Wars. There have always been such individuals among the Serbs, but they are few.

He added that these were people with “the souls of serfs” – those who like serving others, who would “just for the chance to attend a ball, give up their faith, their people and their country”.

- But the Serbian people – the vast majority – will never give up their name or their identity, not in Krajina, not in Montenegro, and not in Republika Srpska. We do not lay hands on anyone else’s land. All we want is to protect our Serbian name and identity. And we say this to you clearly – you don’t understand what you’re doing. You think you can humiliate us, intimidate us. But we’ve had enough. We will not serve you, and we can no longer bear your lies – the President of the Republic said.

Speaking about the situation in Republika Srpska, he called on President Dodik and all citizens of Republika Srpska to safeguard peace and stability.

- All we can do here in Serbia to support that effort – we will do. To unite and fight for the survival of Republika Srpska. To those who believe the time has come for Republika Srpska to be dismantled and disappear, I say this – and I guarantee it on behalf of the Republic of Serbia and on my own behalf: as long as I am president, Republika Srpska will live and you will not be able to harm it. We will strive to build friendships and maintain good relations, but more than anything, we will believe in ourselves, in our people and in our future. We will protect peace and stability – but we will also be capable and strong enough to defend our country far better than we could 26 or 30 years ago, President Vučić said, emphasizing that “Serbia is not a handful of oats that any passing crow can peck away at”.

He added that on September 20 in Belgrade, everyone will have the opportunity to see “the people’s army we have built”. He said that Serbia threatens no one, that the Serbian army exists to protect our people and our country, and that it will not attack anyone.

- Please, don’t even try. There will be no new Storm – ever gain. We will not allow you to threaten the freedom of Serbs in any way. We will build a country that moves forward. We will protect Republika Srpska, we will protect and safeguard Serbia – President Vučić said ending his speech.

At the commemoration, the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, emphasized that those who survived the horrors and remain living witnesses of the pogrom would have been forgotten if the Remembrance Day had not been established at the initiative of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.

- This commemoration that we hold each year, gives us our true human face – the face of the Serbian people who refuse to forget – and, personally, I refuse to forgive either – despite what our faith teaches us – all the suffering that never needed to happen – Dodik said and emphasized that even “outside of military trenches and soldiers’ ranks, we were killed – simply because we were Serbs”.

He emphasized that Republika Srpska is dignified and great, that it loves Serbia and is deeply connected to it, so much that the citizens of Republika Srpska cannot imagine, nor do they want to envision, a future without being united with Serbia and the Serbian people. He stressed that they “reject divisions and separations”, and that Republika Srpska cherishes a strong Serbia.

In his address, His Holiness Porfirije, the Serbian Patriarch, called for peace and love, saying it was precisely love that had brought everyone together in Sremski Karlovci.

- Love for our martyrs, our kin, our neighbours, our brothers and sisters who – during the terrible expulsion of Serbs in August, 1995, were driven from their ancestral homes in Dalmatia, Lika, Kordun, and Banija and lost their innocent lives in the flight. We remember and pray for them tonight, beseeching Christ, the greatest of all martyrs under the sun, to grant them the grace to enter His Heavenly Kingdom. And we also pray with them, as well as with those who bore the martyr’s cross to their own Golgotha – praying for peace in our hearts and among us, and for peace throughout the world.

Jovana Hrvačević, who addressed the audience on behalf of those killed and expelled during Operation Storm, fled from Knin as a seven-year-old girl. Today, she lives in Banstol near Sremski Karlovci, as a mother of three sons and the wife of a priest. She shared that, as a child, she didn’t fully understood what was happening – but now, looking back, she realizes just how terrible it truly was. In an emotional testimony, she recalled how her family was forced to leave their home without time for questions or explanations. Everything they had worked for over the years was packed into a few plastic bags and sacks.

Several individuals, who were among those expelled shared their deeply-moving personal memories of the crimes committed by the Croatian forces during Operation Storm. Boro Ostojić from Kosenica in Banija, Nenad Avramović, a war veteran and descendant of Jasenovac victims, Stojanka Vladić Ignjatović, who lost her father, grandmother and grandfather, and Nada Bodiroga, who is searching, to this day, for the remains of her parents.

Video source: Radio Television of Serbia