President Milanović at Operation Storm Commemoration: Victory was big and difficult, without it there would be no Dayton Peace Agreement
“The victory was big and difficult. When we talk about the truth, the truth should be told in its entirety. Croatia’s victory made the Dayton Peace Agreement possible. It did not only make it possible, but the agreement wouldn’t have happened without Operation Storm. Without the resolute, unconditional and final defeat of the enemy at the time – I emphasize at the time, believing that it is no longer and never will be – there would have been nothing of the French and British bombers that had been hitting the enemy in vain for several weeks and they (the Serb forces) would never have been forced to the negotiating table,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said today in Knin at the official ceremony held in observance of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, the Day of Croatian Defenders and the 28th anniversary of the Military and Police Operation Storm.
Moreover, commenting on the victory in Operation Storm, the President said: “This Croatian town of Knin, typically for us, was created in an area that is not exactly the gentlest for life. This land is for tough and brave people who have proven it throughout history. That’s why I want to repeat what I consider important: Croatia led the war wisely, the people who led it were intelligent. They were shrewd when needed because they fought against the force that was stronger than them. Our allies and friends, at the same time, when Croatia was preparing for the end of the war, wrote plans in the Russian and U.S. embassies for Croatia to be organised according to the Z4 plan. Dear friends, that would have been a very bad solution. It was not accepted only because the opponent at the time, the rebel Serbs, did not agree to it – to their own disaster and damage.”
President Milanović also recalled the courage of the defenders and emphasized the importance of keeping a memory of their sacrifice. “We are here to pay our respects to the ashes, to the fallen heroes – eternal glory to them – and at the same time to pass on the torch of freedom, after us our children and then our children’s children, so that it is not forgotten and so a better society is built on the foundations of good faith, high spirits and trust in fundamental human values. A few good people defended this country, about 200,000, and among them 15,000 of the bravest. Glory to them.”
President Milanović further emphasized that the truth about the Homeland War should be constantly repeated because there are many who dispute it. “We are here also because of that, to establish the truth, since not everyone sees it the same way. They didn’t see it in Prijedor yesterday, unfortunately. Of all the places, they chose Prijedor, where several thousand Muslims and Croats were killed in 1992. That is not nice, that is wrong,” the President told those present.
Ahead of the main ceremony, the President of the Republic laid a wreath and lit a candle at the monument to the Croatian victory “Storm ’95.” President Milanović was accompanied by the Adviser to the President of the Republic for Defence Ivica Olujić, Adviser to the President of the Republic for National Security Dragan Lozančić, Special Adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković, Head of the Military Office in the Cabinet for Defence and National Security of the Office of the President Rear Admiral Predrag Stipanović, Aide-de-Camp to the President of the Republic Colonel Vlado Čulina, Staff Officer Operations in the Military Office of the Cabinet for Defence and National Security of the Office of the President of the Republic Colonel Ivica Kranjčević, Šibenik-Knin County Prefect Marko Jelić, Mayor of Knin Marijo Ćaćić and the entire leadership of the Croatian Armed Forces headed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Admiral Robert Hranj.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan