04.08.2026.

Remembrance Day honouring victims of Operation Storm held

Remembrance Day to honour those killed and expelled during Operation Storm carried out by Croatian armed formations on August 4, 1995, was marked this evening at King Petar I Karađorđević Square in Mrkonjić Grad, Republika Srpska.

The commemoration titled “The 1995 Croat-Muslim Pogrom against Republika Srpska Krajina and Republika Srpska Serbs” 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, Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić, and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović.

The memorial service to pay respects to the victims of Operation Storm was officiated by His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch. High-profile attendees included Milorad Dodik, the Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, President of Republika Srpska Siniša Karan, Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandić, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Savo Minić, and Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Ivan Stoilković.

During the commemoration, President Vučić said that Serbia must never forget Serbian victims and added that for years, efforts have been made to shift the responsibility for the suffering of Serbs onto the Serbian people themselves, rather than the perpetrators of the crime.

- They were killing our people, and not for the first time. Yet no matter how many of our people are killed, no matter how many casualties we suffer, we are always to blame. They expelled 250,000 people through a brutal campaign, through bribery and covert operations conducted by agents, both in Serbia and in Serb Montenegro, everywhere and in every way possible. They tried to convince us that we were responsible for it. That we, Serbs, are to blame. Not the ones who killed them, not the ones who expelled them, but us – President Vučić said, adding that many people in Serbia had accepted the narrative and participated in this “pogrom against the truth”.

Reflecting on the historical events and the ordeals suffered by Serbs during the First and Second World Wars, the President said that the time has come to speak openly about Serbian victims and that new generations refuse to forget.

- A new generation of Serbs has been born, people that are no longer afraid, that are not ashamed to speak the truth. A generation of people who are not afraid to suffer the hardest blows and the most brutal campaigns of lies and falsehoods, but who refuse to forget or sacrifice the angelic eyes of Siniša Dobrić merely to win applause in Zagreb, Sarajevo, Podgorica or anywhere else – President Vučić said.

He noted that much has changed over the past 12 years, from remaining silent about the suffering of Serbs to suppressing the established “do not cause offence” narrative.

- Rather than staying silent about the suffering of Serbs, we thought it was more important to listen to the Gluvo Kolo, the Glamočko Kolo, and the songs of the Krajina Serbs, never forgetting the ordeal endured by the Krajina Serbs in Lika, Banija, Kordun, Dalmatia, and in other places across those regions, and this is something I am proud of today. We have succeeded in suppressing the established “do not cause offence” narrative, much like we were told after the Second World War not to speak of Jasenovac – the President emphasised.

He reminded those present that it had not all begun with Operation Storm and that Serbs had been labelled aggressors, even though they had not been the ones who dismantled the shared state then called Yugoslavia.

- It was an internationally recognized entity – the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was you who started dismantling a legally recognized entity. It was you who caused conflicts, not us, Serbs. The only thing Serbs wanted was to preserve that country and remain in their ancestral homes, nothing more than that – President Vučić stressed.

He extended an apology to all victims of Operation Storm for Serbia not being strong enough at the time, “for remaining silent, for hiding and keeping quiet about the crimes”. He further noted that Serbia has since grown stronger economically, politically and militarily, and assured those present that never again, whether in Republika Srpska or anywhere else within Serbian territory, would there be another Storm, pogrom, or suffering of the Serbian people.

- Serbia is strong enough today, I can tell you that, and it will defend and protect its people. It will not wait or seek excuses or reasons to abandon its people in a time of crisis. The people of Serbia are not to be blamed for that moment, Serbia was economically broken and politically weak. We were not decent or disciplined enough to look after ourselves – the President said, noting that during that period, rather than standing together as one people, Serbia and Republika Srpska were frequently divided, which was an opportunity eagerly awaited and seized by our enemies, an opportunity to destroy Serbian Krajina and attempt to completely destroy Republika Srpska.

The President of Serbia emphasised that the preservation of peace and stability is the most important thing for the Serbs at the moment.

- We are making progress faster than others, our economy is advancing more rapidly, and we are growing faster in industrial terms and in every other way, including in military capabilities, though we hope never to be forced to use our military for defensive purposes. Time and peace are on our side – President Vučić underlined.

He reminded those present that the Serbs were a nation that suffered the most during the 20^th century and stressed that we “have no right to suffer any further pogroms, genocides or crimes – or we will lose our people entirely.”

- I hope we have learned some lessons from our past mistakes. What is also important is that we remain disciplined in upholding our core national goals and interests. We Serbs must know what our primary objectives are and adhere to them – the President of Serbia stated.

President Vučić noted that over the past 14 years, Serbia and Republika Srpska have built a relationship based on mutual respect and that, despite their different views, there have been no public disputes between their officials.

- Over the past 14 years, not once has any representative of a state body in Serbia or Republika Srpska said anything bad about the other. We have been disciplined, serious, and responsible towards our people – the President emphasised.

Speaking about the Serbian Orthodox Church, the President noted that ideas about its decentralization, as well as the concept of “polycentric Serbdom”, was a threat to national unity.

- That would be the ruin of the Serbian nation and the Serbian Church. The Serbian Orthodox Church is one and the same here in Mrkonjić Grad, in Pirot, Sydney, Skopje, Frankfurt, Melbourne, and anywhere else across the globe – the President said, describing such ideas as an attempt to “dissolve and destroy Serbia and Republika Srpska.”

President Vučić took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the leadership of Republika Srpska, emphasising that despite having a smaller percentage of Serbs than Montenegro, it had never recognized the so-called Kosovo nor joined NATO. On the other hand, he noted, Montenegro, where Serbs make up 33 per cent of the population, had voted on four separate occasions to declare Serbs a genocidal people.

- I would like to express my gratitude to all of you in Republika Srpska for always standing with Serbia. Not only through your love, care, and support, but through your political actions. However much pressure they have put on Republika Srpska, it has never left Serbia in the lurch, and now Serbia is obliged never to leave Republika Srpska in the lurch either – President Vučić said, highlighting that borders cannot be changed, but we can always stand together.

Addressing Nevenka Dobrić, the mother of the killed Siniša Dobrić, he stressed that the memory of her son and many other families would never be allowed to fade. People will gather each year, he noted, while a continuous effort will be made to boost the economy so that both Serbia and Republika Srpska would grow even stronger.

- There is no easy path for serious states. We have succeeded together. Today, Serbia is stronger in every respect than at any point in its history, yet it is still not strong enough, and must become far stronger and more powerful. For that, we need our united strength, we are one people –President Vučić concluded.

Speaking about the commemoration of the August 1995 pogrom, Milorad Dodik noted that it was neither an ordinary date in the calendar nor a mere protocol day.

- This is a place where we speak the truth, and thanks to President Vučić, we have revived something that had almost been forgotten. Eleven years ago, we agreed to organise joint commemorations to mark both the ordeals and the victories of the Serbian people throughout history. The very first of these, held on the Rača Bridge, was dedicated to the exodus of Serbs from Croatia and Republika Srpska – Milorad Dodik said, adding that Serbs are a proud people who respect and mourn both their own victims and those of others, and that it should remain so.

Reflecting on the relationship between Serbia and Republika Srpska, he noted that Republika Srpska lives thanks to Serbia’s success and he thanked the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, for attending the event, as he “represents that very unity”.

- We must all get together here, setting aside political differences. Even those who are not believers must respect the Serbian Orthodox Church, because, historically, it has preserved our identity. Had it not been for the Church, there would no longer be Serbs today – Milorad Dodik said, reiterating his call to “get together around the Serbian Orthodox Church, Republika Srpska, and Serbia”, describing it as “the only thing of true value”.

In his address, Patriarch Porfirije said that we gather at different locations year after year to make mention in our prayers of those who died in the horrible persecution of our nation.

- We shall not seek new words beyond those we have spoken before, for the truth remains the same, grief does not vanish with time, and our duty before God to remember our kin and the victims remains permanent and unalterable – the Serbian Patriarch said. He called for forgiveness, love, and unity, adding that we should rise above divisions and discord, safeguarding peace and harmony among ourselves as well as with the nations with whom we share this blessed land.

Milan Knežević, the President of the Democratic People’s Party and a Member of Parliament of Montenegro, stressed that “Saint Sava’s Montenegro belongs in Mrkonjić Grad today”, at the ceremony commemorating the pogrom of the Serbian people, and added that those attending the event were representatives of the “ancient Montenegro”, the descendants of Njegoš and Marko Miljanov.

Nevenka Dobrić from Sisak, whose 12-year-old son was killed in the refugee column, delivered a speech on behalf of all those killed and displaced during Operation Storm. She described the tragic events of August 4, 1995, and spoke of her legal battle to secure civilian war victim status for her child. She expressed her gratitude to the state leaderships of Serbia and Republika Srpska for working continuously to ensure that August 4 never becomes a mere date in the calendar.