Speech by the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović at a formal ceremony in Knin on 5 August 2022, held in observance of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, the Day of Croatian Defenders and the 27^th Anniversary of the Military and Police Operation Storm

Dear families and relatives of fallen Croatian knights,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Distinguished guests, Mr. Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Prime Minister and all others according to order and honour,

Croatian citizens,

My fellow Croatians,

I have wondered many times why we come here to this same place every year, and every year we always have something same, but also something new to say. What is it that is so powerful and how long will it draw us and guide us – is it a human aspiration and the fear of being forgotten, the dread of vanity that awaits us all when we are forgotten? When we die the second time, when no one remembers us anymore. Is it the messages that need to be sent persistently from this spot, sometimes seemingly in vain? But they are not in vain!

In the multitude of proverbs that our people came up with, including those thought up by lawyers, those of the lawyers stand out for their emptiness and lack of content, particularly the following: ‘One who proves too much proves nothing, one who proves nothing keeps silent, one who keeps silent is defending himself with silence, and one who is defending himself with silence ends up getting hurt. Of course, this does not presume guilt, because Croatia has nothing to be defensive about. Croatia had a difficult journey and did not get anything for free, but at a high cost, with high interest. We are aware that in the end this country is important only to us, that we are the only ones who really care about it and that everyone else is just an observer, which of course does not mean enemy.

Among a row of topics that I could and should open here, I will focus on two, as I consider them to be important.

Regarding the standing of Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after almost thirty years of watching, working, trying, negotiating, fighting, believing, and believing in vain, disappointment and anger are behind us. Also despair, at times. It is necessary for us to keep saying all the time that Croatia is a guarantor and signatory to the Dayton Agreement. But that is not enough. The people, who gave their lives and health for Croatia, I am convinced, expected more. They expected our country to also be an instrument to achieve our goals and just aspirations, and to use it whenever necessary. Now it is necessary!

The Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not only disenfranchised, they are insulted, and the people who led this country are also insulted, while Croatia is portrayed as the originator of a joint criminal enterprise. This is being done by the same people who received the highest decorations from Croatia and its Presidents for cooperation during the war. That was forgotten. The opportunity is being used to step on someone who is weaker, to take from him, to disenfranchise him. We have seen that many times in our recent and long history. Croatia has to oppose that. Our country is not a passive observer, but an active member of the international community that did not join the EU and NATO to be a happy, more or less successful beneficiary of European funds, but to use our state and the instruments at our disposal when needed, for our own interest, also to defy those who want to belittle us. That is a policy I believe in and a policy to which, I feel and I am convinced, there is no alternative.

Operation Storm is the other topic, and the departure of a large number of ethnic Serb citizens from this area. And we all know how clear things are regarding this. It is a human tragedy, but that human tragedy was preceded by human greed and human stupidity of those in power in Belgrade, the short-sightedness and arrogance of those who, in the days before Operation Storm, did not want to agree to the Z-4 Plan. The Z-4 Plan is the plan of the international community, which – as we know and as our children must know, and that’s why we need to repeat it to them because they will not learn by silence, and we have nothing to be defensive about – was not favourable for Croatia. However, at that time, in late July of 1995, the Croatian leadership was ready to accept it. And for that they would certainly not receive a monument and gratitude, but would be criticized years later. By a twist of fate, the stubbornness, short-sightedness and arrogance of those who could get more and better for themselves, the [Serb leadership] did not accept it.

And that’s when the best among us, the bravest stepped in. Those who are braver than the bravest. However, the circumstances were such, history was such that those who stepped on the scene, perhaps even the day before the military operation, did not know what would happen. Operation Storm was a great risk and uncertainty. Today, it looks simple and routine to liberate this much space from the enemy within a few days. You have to remember and be aware that the Croatian Army at the time did not have ammunition for more than two weeks of combat and had to act quickly, save people and spend the short supplies available in the conditions of an international embargo and constant fear from sanctions.

That’s why today, when I hear the lies and outrageous claims about Croatia having some sort of plans or an agenda in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I want to make things clear. Ladies and gentlemen, the Croatian Army did not facilitate the Dayton Agreement; that agreement would never have happened without the Croatian Army! The enemy, the Bosnian Serb Army, would not have been broken. And it was not broken by NATO bombers, but by the boots of Croatian soldiers, guardsmen, soldiers of the Croatian Defense Council, the First, Second and Third Brigades of the bravest and most superb sons among us. No American, no British, no French flying machines. The enemy had not surrendered; it was broken by the Croatian Army. Is more credit possible?

We have not even been thanked for that. Not only have we not been thanked, but to this day we have been suspected of being occupiers and having bad intentions. The Croatian Army broke the enemy, captured the Borčac Hydroelectric Power Plant and threatened Banja Luka. Only then do we sit down at the table and only then, together with the Washington Agreement, does the Dayton Agreement enter into force, which – let me be very clear, so those who are playing dead hear – is an agreement on the division of power and authority which, as a pledge of peace and an end to war, legally and politically defined who gets what and who has the right to do what with great precision. Today, that is being rudely devalued and we must oppose that, and constantly emphasize that we are doing it by peaceful means, in a civilized but vocal way. In doing so, we are not defending ourselves with silence, but with the loud ringing noise of our arguments. And that is what those who are on the other side – unfortunately, I cannot say anything other than that they are on the other side – don’t understand I guess. But they will need to understand.

The arguments are on our side, the instruments are on our side. We are a member of the European Union and NATO, we can force those who pretend that we don’t exist and pass by us ignorantly, to make fair arrangements. The Croatian voice must be heard, the Croatian rights and fundamental rights must be respected. That is the task of this generation of politicians.

And Serbia? It is a country where the government and the people have more than eighty percent agreement on vital issues of national policy, foreign policy and regional policy. It is not difficult to be president in that country, it is even easier to be prime minister. Everyone there thinks the same. I don’t know if they are thinking well, that’s their business. Is it a good thing not to recognize Kosovo, to stand openly on Russia’s side, not to introduce sanctions? They are united over that. If this is the path that Serbia has chosen, we can’t be of much help, but perhaps that issue will be raised at another time.

We have our tasks, our obligations and our little fears that the big [powers] don’t see. We have our own military in which we must invest evenly. It’s nice to wear expensive shoes, but if you have the most expensive shoes and the other garments are inadequate, you should consider whether this is the right solution. Our army is a member of the largest military alliance of Western democracies. But I will remind you: the task of our army – which was created from the better angels of our souls more than twenty years ago – is the defense of Croatia’s integrity and independence: the defense of the three things without which there is no state. The first is territory, which is the most familiar and clear to everyone, every centimetre of that territory. The second is the defense of the citizens of this country, the Croatian people, because this is a nation-state of the Croatian people. And the third is the defense of the government, democratically elected by the will of the majority, for a specific mandate. We have these three things in Croatia and they work better than in some countries that boast a longer tradition, that have been states and have had instruments at their disposal for a longer period. The task of the Croatian Army is, above all, the defense of the Homeland. And as the Commander in Chief, the older, more experienced and more cautious I am, the more I am inclined to interpret this task as conservatively as possible. The closer to home, the better!

Dear friends, dear fellow citizens, I congratulate you on this great day, a huge day for the Croatian state, on which we still gather and will continue to gather. In the first five years after Operation Storm, we became silent, as if an enormous boulder appeared in front of us, blocking our view and path, in which we could not believe: Croatia won! Croatia was blackmailed and pressured. Croatia had to send its best to The Hague. Ante Gotovina, Mladen Makrač and Ivan Čermak were separated from a yearslong prison sentence, the most outrageous indictment you can imagine, by a blink of an eye. It didn’t happen. There was boldness, but there was also luck.

Today, Croatia is no longer a hostage to anything. If needed, Croatia can be stronger, more conscious and more brazen, always aware that the right values are on our side and that we are on the right side of history. Let us stick to that side and we will not go astray. Let us not defend ourselves with silence, for our merits and achievements are great, and our faults, as in any human activity, are inevitable. We don’t need to be ashamed of anything. I believe that the people who gave their lives for Croatia would not be unhappy today. I think they would be closer to happiness.

Happy Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, and the Day of Croatian Defenders, and may everyone be happy and satisfied. Long live our Croatian Homeland!