ZAGREB, 4 June 2021 - War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said on Friday the 5 August 1995 Operation Storm would be commemorated across the country but that Knin remained the central place for the Victory Day celebration.

He was commenting on President Zoran Milanović's proposal that this year Victory Day be commemorated in Glina instead of Knin.

Speaking to the press in Petrinja, Medved said 50 towns and municipalities had been financed every year since 2016 where Operation Storm was commemorated, notably in previously occupied areas, adding that the Croatian Army's symbolic victory near Glina had not been forgotten.

That's why, he said, the government and he as the minister of war veterans stand by their position that Operation Storm will continue to be commemorated across the country, but that Knin, as the central point of the victory in the 1991-95 Homeland War, remains the central location for the commemoration.

Medved said Knin was a "symbol of our victory" and that "ours as well as all future generations have the obligation to value that symbol of victory."

Asked "what if veterans and generals propose commemorating at another location," Medved said someone was evidently always looking for a motive for discussions.

He recalled everything the Andrej Plenković cabinet had done for veterans since 2016.

Medved said a big commemoration was held in Glina two years ago and that the commemoration in Knin had been a tradition since 1995. 

He also said that there were 150 mass execution sites and graves in Croatia, including 44 in Sisak-Moslavina County, such as Baćin, the second largest mass grave after Ovčara.

Post-earthquake reconstruction

As head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of last December's earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, he said damaged and unsafe buildings were being demolished and that reconstruction had been stepped up.

He said the Central State Reconstruction and Housing Office had already reconstructed 60 houses, that over 100 were undergoing reconstruction, that studies for the reconstruction of 3,000 would be ready this week, and that contracts for the reconstruction of over 6,000 houses would be signed by 15 July.

For more on politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated politics page.

ZAGREB, 27 April, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday that he was considering not having the army participate in the coming commemoration of the 1995 military and police operation "Flash" in Okučani, to protect it from politicking, and that he would discuss the matter with Defence Minister Mario Banožić.

"A situation where soldiers have to stand for hours while politicians and government officials successively lay wreaths to comply with epidemiological measures puts in an awkward position the Army Chief of Staff as well as the commander of the land army who, if they do not want to offend anyone, have to be on duty... after arriving with me, they have to wait for (PM Andrej) Plenković, then, I guess, also for (Parliament Speaker Gordan) Jandroković," said Milanović, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

"So I'm thinking about telling them to stay home, to simply protect them from any politicking... I will talk with the minister," said Milanović while visiting the Gašinci military grounds.

Milanović said that he did not see anything contentious about the fact that on Monday, at a reception he gave for retired officers and wartime commanders of the Croatian Defence Force (HVO) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he also met with retired HVO general Tihomir Blaškić, who was in the HVO delegation. 

Blaškić was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and served a nine-year prison sentence for the cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosniak civilians and POWs from 1992 to 1994.

"Had Blaškić been responsible for something that, let's say Ratko Mladić was responsible for, I would not have received him," he said.

He announced that he would also receive General Milivoj Petković when he is released from prison "because he isn't a war criminal."

The convictions against Blaškić and Petković were political convictions, he added.

The ICTY convicted Petković of crimes committed in 1993 against Bosniaks in the territory that was under the control of the Croat authorities of Herceg-Bosna

Asked if he would attend a ceremony marking the anniversary of the establishment of the 4th Guards Brigade in Split, Milanović said that he would attend the ceremony in Knin.

"I'm going to Knin, not Split, that brigade is in Knin and the army will conduct such events in barracks," the president said.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April the 12th, 2021 - Knin is planning on getting business in the area going again with the creation of the new Knin Entrepreneurship Centre, worth over 27 million kuna in total.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, the former complex of buildings of the now-defunct Kninjanka Knin clothing and lingerie factory has been closed and rotting for two decades now, but life should return to this facility by the time next summer rolls around.

This is the place where the City of Knin, in partnership with the Local Development Agency Matica and with co-financing from European Union (EU) funds, will realise the largest individual investment in entrepreneurial infrastructure in the area, the construction of the Knin Entrepreneurship Centre.

A tender is currently underway for the renovation of the aforementioned buildings and the conversion of the former Kninjanka factory into the Knin Entrepreneurship Centre, the value of which is estimated by the City of Knin to stand at an impressive 27.5 million kuna.

It is a space that has represented a certain level of misery and sadness among Knin's locals for years, because it used to employ about 800 workers, mostly women, but after the war and the lack of interest in taking over and continuing the industry, Kninjanka has been completely closed and left to rot since 2003.

After an unsuccessful attempt at the rehabilitation of the buildings, the former Kninjanka building was taken over by Jadranska banka (Adriatic bank), from which the complex covering 11,000 square metres was purchased by the City of Knin back in 2018. Since then, preparations have been underway for a project to renovate and build a centre for the starting and developing of new businesses, for which there is growing interest and potential across Knin.

In previous years, people had a hard time coming to terms with the disappearance of many industrial companies for which Knin was once famous, and of the former "giants" only the production of screws continued in the premises of TVIK, which was taken over and renovated by Samobor DIV.

Lately, the desire has prevailed in Knin for the city to no longer merely perceived solely as a place of special Croatian patriotism during August and as an area where people live on state aid. There are more and more people wanting change to come, especially among the younger population who think differently and decided to seek help for their entrepreneurial ideas.

Ivona Malenica, director of the Matica Local Development Agency, pointed out that a visible progress has been made when it comes to Knin's tourism and services, as well as agriculture.

During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the aforementioned development agency organised a web market and networked local producers, and it turns out, according to the director, that there is a lot of room to start up the local economy and develop new ideas in Knin.

"It's the infrastructure that Kninjanka boasts that will be a much-needed injection for entrepreneurship and will offer a different picture of Knin for those who live there and those who may recognise Knin as a place to come and live and work," added Malenica, whose agency is announcing a tender for two associates who will prepare things and attract potential users of the future Knin Entrepreneurship Centre.

As far as the renovation of the Kninjanka building is concerned, the reconstruction for which the contractors are required envisages comprehensive interventions on several facilities, from the factory hall, the two-storey building, the boiler room, to the fuel oil storage and the fuel station.

The construction of these facilities began primarily back in 1975, and in the past twenty years of non-use, all of the installations, windows and doors have been destroyed, as have roofs and partition walls which all need to be replaced, new waterproofing needs to be installed on all roofs and all of the other surfaces, etc.

The City of Knin is collecting bids for the renovation of the Kninjanka building electronically through the EOJN until April the 19th this year, and the deadline for submission is within 30 days, while the contractor has 10 months left to complete all the work following conclusion.

However, given that it is now known that local elections will follow, it is quite likely that the contract for this job will be concluded by the successor of the current Knin mayor Marko Jelic, who did a great job on the Knin Entrepreneurship Centre project so far when it comes to obtaining EU money and preparing a lot of paperwork.

For more, follow our business page.

ZAGREB, 23 March, 2021 - Toni Matas, whose corpse was found in his car near Knin on Sunday afternoon, committed suicide, the Šibenik-Knin County police department said on Tuesday.

The autopsy confirmed the identity of the victim as Toni Matas, who used to work for the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA). His body was found near Knin on Sunday afternoon when passers-by informed the Šibenik-Knin County police department that they had seen a corpse in a car.

Matas's last job was as corporate security director at the Croatian Post.

Local media outlets speculate that Matas had private and business problems lately. Some also claim that his name was implicated in the recent wind park graft scandal. Several days before the tragic event, Matas was questioned by the USKOK office for prevention of organised crime and corruption.

Some media allege that Matas left a suicide note in his car and that the note mentioned pressure he had been exposed to due to his role in the said scandal.

For more about news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 12, 2020 - It is over a month since Croatia celebrated the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm. Some reflections from a foreigner who attended Oluja 2020 in Knin.

(Author's note - I had intended to write this article some time ago, much sooner after the event, but time was against me)

Although I have been fortunate to have travelled the world, visiting almost 100 countries and living in 10, I have yet to meet a region quite like the one here. Every country has its different viewpoints from those who live and visit it, but this region seems to excel in that regard. Perspective is usually heavily influenced by personal experience, and never was this more true than in this most divided of regions. Attitudes to the Homeland War differ vastly between Croats who were in Istria or Vukovar, for example. Even more so between Sarajevo and Belgrade. 

Although I have lived in Croatia now full-time for 17 years, it took me a number of years to realise that my perspective was out of sync with almost everyone else. Arriving on Hvar in August 2002, I found a touristic paradise, which would soon become my new home as I bought a house in Jelsa a month later. Although it was just seven years since the war had ended, there was little trace of that on Hvar, where the tourism industry was recovering nicely, and the lack of physical scars of war meant that the recent past did not really touch me. I lived for years in that naive bubble, and the recent past only entered it in the first week of August each year, when Croatia celebrated its holiday, Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders.

While I now completely understand the raw emotions of the occasion, for years, this day in Jelsa left me cold and I avoided the town on that day. One of the things I often get tarnished with as a Brit here is the actions and meddling of the British Government both here and elsewhere. As a former aid worker, I spent most of my time in Africa when not working apologising for actions done in my name as a British citizen. Extreme displays of nationalism - whatever the country - are things I tend to run from, although the more I understand Croatia after that initial bubble, the more I understand the nationalist pride of this very young nation which successfully fought against all the odds for its freedom. 

August 5 is the date that this is celebrated, and the focal point each year is in Knin, the liberation of which in 1995 was part of the biggest land battle in Europe since World War II. Operation Storm was a complete triumph for Croatia, liberated almost 20% of the county in days, averted another Srebrenica in Bihac, and effectively brought the war to an end after four years of bloody fighting and occupation. What is not to celebrate?

Due to my perspective and lack of deeper understanding of the situations, I consciously avoided all mention of both Vukovar and August 5 in Knin for many years. With so many perspectives and experiences that were much more involved and painful than my own, there would have been little of value to add, as well as the inevitable offence taken by the words of a Brit who either did not understand or had an alleged agenda. 

But then last November, just before the annual Vukovar Remembrance Parade on November 18, I decided to visit. I had read a lot about Vukovar and what happened in those tragic months in 1991, but there was nothing online in English about the experience of attending the annual remembrance day, which is one of the most important dates in the Croatian calendar. And, not for the first time in Croatia, what I found on the ground in Vukovar was very different to the perceptions that I had been given from second-hand sources. You can read my experience in Vukovar Remembrance Day Through the Eyes of a Foreign Resident.

And, having been to Vukovar, it was time to attend the annual event in Knin at Oluja 2020. As I left my house in Varazdin at 4am to pick up my press accreditation by 9am, I was sure that this was going to be a difficult day, and not one I was going to enjoy. 

But, just like my day in Vukovar, what I found on the ground was very different to my expectations, one of the most dignified and measured victory celebrations I have seen. And one with some very large seeds of hope in the future. 

(Population of Knin, source Wikipedia)

There are two very different perspectives on Operation Storm, which is seen as a great liberation by Croatia, while Serbs see it as both a disaster and massive ethnic cleansing of a region which had been majority Serb for generations. That is not a debate for me to get into, but what is undisputed is that the population shifts from 1991 to 1995 were significant. Firstly, many Croats fled from the newly-established Krajina Republic, which brought the Serb population up to 88%, before Oluja completely reversed those numbers, as Serb civilians took the path of their retreating army towards Belgrade.  What is beyond argument was that Operation Storm was a stunning military tactical and operational success, which completely turned the tide of the war, while liberating occupied Croatia.

(Serb MP Boris Milosevic, left)

Oluja 2020 was the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm. It is a national event each year, broadcast live on national television and attended by all the senior politicians and other dignitaries. Among them was General Ante Gotovina, who was instrumental in commanding the success of the operation. This year's event was also historic for the appearance of a Serb politician for the first time, with Croatian government representative Boris Milosevic from the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) took his place in the front row. As a further symbol of some seeds of reconciliation, the government announced that Milosevic, the Croatian Government's Vice-President for Social Affairs and Human Rights, would accompany Veterans Minister Tomo Medved to lay a wreath in the village of Grubori, north of Knin, where several elderly Serbs were killed less than 3 weeks after Operation Storm. 

I wasn't sure what to expect as I picked up my press pass, but I was surprised to see that I was the only foreign journalist covering the event. While the main event was in Knin's central square and timed to include the 09:43 arrival of Croatian troops in the city, all eyes were on its imposing fortress, where the flag of liberation was raised at exactly 09:46. This was carried live on a giant screen on the main square and was clearly a moment of intense pride and emotion for every Croat watching. 

I was surprised at how empty the main square was. Social distancing - of people and weaponry - had come to Oluja 2020 apparently.

The weapons were soon taken up by the soldiers to whom they were allocated. 

And a bearing of arms followed.  

(The raising of the flag at 09:46 - click if video above unavailable)

Centre stage in the front row was Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, President Zoran Milanovic and General Ante Gotovina, all of whom gave speeches.

You can learn more about Gotovina's speech in Gotovina: We Are Stronger and Better people, Ready to Work for a Better Tomorrow.

Much was made of social distancing, with the lecturn disinfected between after every speech, although this initiative was somewhat undone by the President, who shook the hands of both the General and the Prime Minister to congratulate them on their speeches.  

It must have been an intense day for General Gotovina, who hid his emotions well, but clearly felt the name of each fallen soldier as their names were read out.  

The whole event was extremely dignified, conciliatory, full of remembrance and pride at the considerable achievement of liberation a quarter of a century ago - a perfect tone. Impressive stuff. 

After two Croatian MiG fighters flew overhead (a little too quickly for this aspiring photographer to document), it was time to take a walk around town, and I soon realised why things were so quiet on the main square. 

A line of masked policemen were preventing the marchers from proceeding, the first time this has happened apparently. It was still early in the day, but the atmosphere was good-humored and celebratory. 

There were, of course, some souvenirs on offer that one would perhaps not find at Advent in Zagreb, but the atmosphere was a lot less intimidating than I had been expecting. 

As the dignitaries headed on to Mass, I decided to go in another direction - in search of this Serb village of Grubori, scene of that 1995 massacre and soon to be the symbol of another seed of reconciliation with the visit of Medved and Milosevic (this event took place on August 26, with President Milanovic and SDSS leader Milorad Pupovac also in attendance).

That Grubori visit took place three weeks after Oluja 2020 - I was trying to find it on my own on the day. The first surprise was that Google Maps had never heard of it. Indeed, it didn't seem to exist at all online, apart from those terrible events on August 1995. A Croatian colleague told me to head to a village called Plavno, 30km north of Knin, and then to ask. 

I have been to some desolated spots in the Balkans in my time, but this one was right up among them. Finally arriving at Plavno, a seemingly almost deserted place and former heartland of Serb population in the Knin region, a local man in his string vest put his head out of the window at the sound of a rare car.

Grubori? There is no sign. Over the bridge and then the rough road to the right.

I think I got to the right place, but if not, it was one of several very similar. Abandoned, overgrown, forgotten. Like so many villages on both sides in this region.  

Going back to Plavno, I was surprised to see a well-tended Serb graveyard, the graves maintained and many with fresh flowers. There seemed to be almost nobody in the area at all.  

Appearances were misleading, however, and it seems that the church has regular community gatherings.  

Indeed, the only other person I saw in the entire area was a Serb woman sitting in her yard cleaning vegetables, a rusting washing machine for company. The other side of 25 years of Oluja.  

From Grubori to Cavoglave, a focal point of the Oluja celebrations each year, as well as a reminder of the fierce fighting and suffering that took place here.

Croatia might have won its independence, but the cost was high, and the pain and memories remain. 

Did my perspective change somewhat with a visit to Oluja 2020? Yes, for sure. The balance of celebration, remembrance and looking forward was a difficult one to get right, but the overall impression was a superbly organised event which struck completely the right balance. These are small beginnings, but encouraging ones.  

While moves towards reconciliation are welcome, there are more pressing problems to deal with. This building overlooking the main square was a symbol of another more immediate problem once the celebrations of independence subside. With restricted access to the main square event, one might have assumed that the balconies in surrounding buildings offering a grandstand view would be popular. But I counted just 10 of the 36 terraces in use, and the majority of the other apartments shuttered up. My initial thought was that this was perhaps due to the Serb exodus 25 years ago, but I was told locally that the population of the Knin workforce has declined 20% in the last 12 months alone. The owners are more likely to be found in Dublin, Munich or Stockholm. 

It was quite a day.  I learned a lot. I arrived in the morning with a sense of trepidation, and I left in the afternoon with a feeling of hope. There is a long way to go, but I had a feeling that I had witnessed an important first step on a journey.  

Bravo, Hrvatska, on an outstanding example of how to remember the past, celebrate freedom, and look to the future. 

ZAGREB, Aug 6, 2020 - Anyone who thinks that the state can be an excuse for war crimes is seriously mistaken, the leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, said in Uzdolje, near Knin, on Thursday, in an address to a memorial ceremony for eight Serb civilians killed there in the wake of Operation Storm 25 years ago.

"Even more mistaken are those who think that peace can be built by ignoring killings like these and without showing empathy for the suffering that people endured," he added.

Pupovac said that the victims had been "perfidiously and inhumanely" killed by those who thought they were doing a big thing and those big things justified such crimes.

Pupovac said that the people attending the commemoration had gathered together to stand up to such thinking and belief, adding that they would continue to organise such memorials to condemn those crimes and encourage the authorities to identify those responsibly and bring them to justice.

"We will continue to gather together in the belief that by respecting the suffering endured by our compatriots, both Croats, and Serbs, we will create a society of peace in which we will close the chapter on the war rather than reopen it every year, a society in which people will be able to live in peace and look to the future," Pupovac said.

War crimes against Serbs seldom prosecuted

SDSS MP Anja Simpraga warned that while the war crimes committed against Croats were recognised and formally commemorated and many Serbs were prosecuted and punished for those crimes, this could not be said of the war crimes committed against Serbs and of their expulsion.

"War crimes against Serbs have been seldom punished, particularly those committed during or in the wake of Operation Storm. The places of their suffering are marked and commemorated by Serb organisations only, and they don't seem to exist for the state and the government. The same is true of the expulsion of nearly 200,000 Serbs during Operation Storm alone, not counting those expelled during Operation Flash and those expelled from many towns outside the war zones," Simpraga said.

She said that there was no public awareness among the Croats of such large-scale suffering of Serbs and no awareness of the need to express regret and empathy.

"Condemnations of war crimes are getting fewer and fewer over the years and are giving way to callousness and unchristian ridicule, hatred of the remaining Serbs, intolerance towards what makes them different from Croats, and violence," she added.

Simpraga recalled that in addition to the 200,000 Serbs who had fled from Operation Storm, nearly 2,000 had been killed during or in the wake of the Croatian military offensive, and "hundreds of villages and a thousand houses" had been devastated. She said it was high time to shed light on the war crimes, what had happened during the war, and the damage that had been done not just to Serbs but to Croatia itself.

"It is necessary to stop the hatred and violence against Serbs and start building a society of tolerance and respect for diversity. It is also necessary to stop keeping quiet about other people's suffering during the war and ridiculing it but rather show respect for the suffering of all (both Croats and Serbs). That's what honourable warriors and wise and honest politicians do and what true priests preach," Simpraga said.

Stevan, Janja and Djurdjija Beric, Milos Cosic, and Sava, Milica, Jandrija and Krstan Sare were killed in Uzdolje on 6 August 1995. No one has been brought to account for these murders.

ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic Radman has said that the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm in Knin was dignified and that the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milosevic of the Independent Democratic Serb Party was a turning point in relations between Croats and Serbs.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, held in Knin on Wednesday on the occasion of Victory Day and Homeland Thanksgiving and War Veterans Day, Grlic Radman said that the proposal for Milosevic's presence at the Knin ceremony had come from Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Milosevic's arrival in Knin fantastic message to Serbia

"Finally, (Milosevic) is a citizen of Croatia. I think this is a turning point in our relations. Serbs are represented in the Croatian parliament, and I would describe this as a fantastic message to Serbia which should not be surprised but should welcome the fact that Serbs in Croatia regulate their issues with a democratically elected government," said Grlic Radman.

He noted that Milosevic's presence at today's ceremony in Knin could contribute to improving relations and resolving more outstanding issues as well as set an example for Serbia to turn to the future.

Grlic Radman described the Knin celebration as dignified, and addresses by top state officials as statesmanlike speeches.

Asked what kind of reception today's speeches by President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Plenkovic could have in Serbia, Grlic Radman said that all the speeches at today's event were about inclusion, tolerance, future, reconciliation as well as the need to learn from the past.

Serbia owes answers about missing persons

Grlic Radman said that the war in Croatia had been imposed on the country and that in present-day Europe there was no room anymore for the policy of aggression.

"We advocate stability, peace, respect, tolerance. We expect to work on outstanding issues with Serbia," he said.

Speaking about people gone missing in the 1991-95 war who remain unaccounted for, the minister said that Serbia has a duty and obligation to give answers to their families.

"In order to achieve that, we have to talk with Serbia, it owes us answers," Grlic Radman said.

ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - Any innocent victim of the war, be they of Croat, Serb or any other ethnicity, deserves respect, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm in Knin on Wednesday.

In his address, he recalled a message of reconciliation addressed by the late President Franjo Tudjman in Vukovar in June 1997 to Croatian returnees and the local Serb population: "A victor who cannot forgive sows the seeds of future rifts and evils, and the Croatian people do not want that."

Plenkovic said that this message should be borne in mind in building an inclusive, tolerant, and forward-looking Croatia. "As a country that won a war that was imposed on it, with numerous innocent civilian victims, we regret all the casualties, especially civilians, and not just Croats, but Serbs and members of all other ethnic communities as well."

Legitimate right to defence is not and cannot be excused for wrongdoing

Plenkovic expressed regret for war crimes committed by Croats, saying that "a legitimate right to defence is not and cannot be an excuse for wrongdoing." "Any such act is painful for the families of the victims and an ugly scar on the righteous face and defensive nature of the Homeland War," he added.

"We are aware that our victory in Operation Storm was traumatic for many Croatian Serbs who primarily associate it with the departure of a portion of the Serb population from their homes in what were previously occupied areas. While for the majority of Croats this was a forced exodus organised and ordered by leaders of the Serb rebellion in Knin, many Serbs still see it as an exodus before Croatian forces," the prime minister said.

Plenkovic said that 25 years on it was time to look at the complexity of what had happened then with equanimity. After Operation Storm, the Croatian state has made great efforts to ensure that Serb refugees who so wish a return to their homeland and much has been done in that regard, There are still difficulties that need to be removed so that they can feel equal and live in dignity, he added.

"We know that the whole time many Croatian Serbs in free areas of the country shared the fate of their Croatian compatriots, and many of them were in the Croatian army, of which we should be proud," Plenkovic stressed.

It is important that in Operation Storm the Croatian Serbs do not see only the exodus of their people but also the end of the war that paved the way for their return to Croatia, for everyone who so wishes.

"Finally, respects are due to every innocent victim, be they of Croat, Serb, or any other ethnicity. Respects to thousands of innocent Croat victims from Vukovar to Dubrovnik ... Respects to innocent Serb victims from Paulin Dvor to Varivode," Plenkovic said.

"We do not question the legitimacy or righteousness of the Homeland War nor do we downplay the victory won in Operation Storm," he added.

The humanity of a victor who regrets every lapse or war crime not prevented 

Plenkovic said that this shows the magnanimity and humanity of a victor "who, despite everything, regrets every lapse or war crime that was not prevented."

"We expect the same from all sections of Croatian society, especially from representatives of the Serbs in Croatia, who should also clearly condemn all the war crimes committed against Croats," he stressed.

True reconciliation can only be built on the truth that is based on fact, on full cooperation in discovering all those still listed as missing and in seeking justice for all the victims, Plenkovic said, adding that all war crimes that do not fall under a statute of limitations will continue to be prosecuted regardless of the ethnicity of the victim or the perpetrator.

"Today, as the world copes with the biggest health threat in the last hundred years and with the gravest economic crisis since the Second World War, we must again strengthen our national unity around Croatian strategic goals. That's why we should be inspired by the courage and self-abnegation of Croatian defenders and we will be able to cope with the great challenges facing us," the prime minister said.

Plenkovic reiterated that Operation Storm was "legally legitimate, militarily inevitable and politically necessary," adding that it was imperative for the Croatian leadership at the time to make it possible for displaced Croats to return to their homes and to reconnect parts of the country that had been severed until then.

With more than 20,000 dead and 15% of the housing stock damaged, Croatia suffered huge damage in the war which set it back 15 years in terms of development, Plenkovic said, noting that Operation Storm was also a turning point for peace and stability in southeastern Europe "which is why we can rightfully regard it as our greatest victory."

The prime minister announced that a special law on civilian casualties of the Homeland War would be adopted to resolve painful issues still burdening Croatian society.

ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - Several hundred HOS veterans, including those wearing T-shirts with the inscription "For the Homeland Ready" and those shouting this Ustasha salute, were barred entry into the main square in Knin during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm on Wednesday but were allowed in afterward.

A spokeswoman for the Sibenik-Knin County Police Marica Kosor told Hina that several hundred veterans of the Croatian Defence Force (HOS), the wartime armed wing of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), and other units whom the police did not allow to enter Ante Starcevic Square, sang patriotic songs for the duration of the official programme, unhappy that they were denied entry.

Several shouts of "For the Homeland Ready", a salute used by the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime during the Second World War, could be heard, and some wore T-shirts displaying inappropriate content, the police spokeswoman said.

Asked why the veterans were not allowed into the square to watch the programme, Kosor said that they did not have accreditation and the venue could take only about 600 guests because of the epidemiological measures in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

No incidents were reported.

Mladen Todoric, head of a veterans association from Split, told reporters earlier that they had liberated Knin in 1995 and "now there is no room for us, while there is room for Milosevic and the likes of him, apparently because of the coronavirus."

He expressed regret that "our police colleagues have been put in an awkward situation, with them on one side of the barricade and us on the other."

"We hope that this will never happen again, that veterans are barred entry into the square in Knin to pay tribute to their fallen comrades in arms and to celebrate our victory," Todoric said, adding that after the official programme "we will pay our respects and light candles."

Media said that among the HOS veterans was MP Hrvoje Zekanovic of the Croatian Sovereignists party.

ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - Retired lieutenant general Ante Gotovina said during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm in Knin on Wednesday, that by learning lessons from the past Croatians have become stronger and better people, ready to think optimistically and work today for a better tomorrow.

Speaking as a representative of veterans, he congratulated those present and underscored that Operation Storm, which took place a quarter of a century ago, had determined the country's future and marked the beginning of the end of the war and the establishment of peace.

"The courage, sacrifice, determination, and unity of our people from the start of the Homeland War and under the leadership of the first Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, wartime defence minister Gojko Susak and all the commanders of the General Staff were crucial for us to build a Croatian army is particularly unfavourable and difficult war circumstances, ready and capable of defending itself, putting an end to an imposed war and creating preconditions for lasting peace," said Gotovina.

Horrors of war in the collective conscience of the people and foundation of Croatian statehood

Gotovina added that the horrors of war and years of suffering of innocent people, the sacrifice of young soldiers, and those who lost their lives and health, were part of the collective conscience of the Croatian people, having been built into the foundations of Croatian statehood.

"It is with pride and sorrow that we remember our friends, fallen and deceased comrades in arms. I greet you, dear families, with profound respect," he said.

Gotovina said that 25 years of living in peace and security, Croatia is developing into a modern European democracy, a socially just state that cares for the smallest and most needy, a state in which all people, regardless of their differences, enjoy safety and freedom, equal rights and equal obligations.

"With the unity of all of us, from the first at the helm to the smallest, we will achieve the objectives and know how to respond to all the challenges of the time that we live in," concluded Gotovina.

Asked by reporters later to say why members of wartime HOS forces and some other war units were not allowed to attend the ceremony in the main square in Knin, Gotovina said that "discipline has to exist in everything, even in freedom."

Asked whether he was glad that Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milosevic from the ranks of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) had attended today's event, Gotovina said that the celebration was dignified and "that is good."