By Djura Likar
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia with the support of the Croatian Defence Council and Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the approval and support of NATO, on August 4th, 1995 launched an aggressive attack in north Dalmatia, Lika, Kordun and Bania i.e. on the territory of the Serbian autonomous region Krajina, which at that time, was part of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The aggression was launched despite the fact that those territories were under the protection of the UN forces, sectors “South” and “North”, and the fact that representatives of the Republic of Serbian Krajina had accepted, a day before the aggression, a proposal by the International Community about a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Against the Serbs in the Republic of Serbian Krajina, (230.000 civilians and about 30.000 soldiers) were engaged about 200.000 soldiers of the Armed forces of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Defence Council.
After a few days of unequal fighting, resistance from the Serbian army of Krajina was broken and the people of West Krajina (about 220.000) started to retreat in the direction of the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia. Currently on the list of dead and missing persons are listed 1.852 persons. Civilians are 1.200 persons or 65% of total losses and soldiers are 652 or 35% of total losses. Also, during Operation “Storm” there was huge infrastructural damage: 25.000 houses and 13.000 other objects were ruined amongst which were 78 churches, 410 workshops, 96 museums, 181 cemeteries and others. Results of this operation was that, according to census from 2011, in the Republic of Croatia lived 186.633 Serbs or only 4.36% of the total population compared to the data from census held in 1991, when 581.663 Serbs lived in the Republic of Croatia or 12.2% of the total population. Today most of the Serbs in the Republic of Croatia are living in the regions which were not targeted during Operation “Storm”. Since 2014, the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska have mutually marked this day as the Memorial Day of the Serbs who were victims and exiled during the Second World War and operation “Storm”. In the Republic of Croatia the same day is celebrated as the day of great victory and the biggest national holiday. Today almost nobody in Europe or in the World talks about the genocide of the Serbian people during the Second World War on the territory of Nazi puppet state, the so-called “Independent State of Croatia” and the terrible stories about the concentration camp in Jasenovac which is shrouded in a veil of silence.
Crimes over the Serbian people at the end of 20th century cannot be considered out of context of genocide from the period of the Second World War and that is the reason why Operation “Storm” is one of the biggest crimes of the ethnic cleansing in the World after Second World War with more than 220.000 people exiled. For the deportation of all those people and killing of a huge number of civilians and captured soldiers during operation “Storm”, nobody from the Croatian political or military leadership has taken responsibility. Despite the fact that in the accusation against Croatian Generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Carmak and Mladen Markac in the trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Operation “Storm” was found to be a Joint Criminal Enterprise with the goal of permanent and forced deportation of majority of the Serbian population from the territory of the former Republic of Serbian Krajina, all of them were acquitted. All those facts are the reason why participation of some members of the International Community in the celebration of Operation “Storm” is actually a participation in the celebration of the ethnic cleansing of the Serbian people.
Although the Republic of Croatia now has satisfactory legal regulations about minorities, in reality, there are numerous obstructions in the exercise of constitutional and law guaranteed rights. There are cases of hate speech, historical revisionism, discrimination of the Serbian people, physical violence, damage of property which has negative impact on economical sustainability, etc. The Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska will never celebrate the tragedy of the Serbian people and the killing of the Serbian civilians and children neither can we allow a situation as it was during Operation “Storm” to be repeated. We have never forced anybody to admit genocide over the Serbian people but just to show piety towards Serbian victims and not to celebrate over the graves of our compatriots. That is the reason why the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska will fight resolutely against silence about Serbian victims. The Republic of Serbia wants peace and conciliation because its desire is to develop in cooperation with everybody in the region but we are also obliged to remember and not be silenced; neither can we accept to be humiliated.
Peace and stability are the most important values to the Serbian people and that is reason why the Republic of Serbia does not respond to numerous and often provocative messages from some political spheres in the region.
Likar is the Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia
to Nigeria