ZAGREB, 9 May 2022 - Leaders of Karlovac County and the City of Karlovac on Monday laid wreaths at the Jamadol cemetery, with Karlovac Mayor Damir Mandić saying that they commemorate the day for the sake of the victims and not the victors. 

The office of the mayor, who is a member of the HDZ party, said that modern-day Croatia was founded on antifascism and the fight against all totalitarian regimes.

Mandić said that they were commemorating the millions of victims who in the 20th century paid with their lives during "the rampage of totalitarianism, Fascism, Ustashism and Communism."

"Commemorations like these are held for the sake of the victims, not the victors. Notably, if we remember that in communist countries the victory turned into a defeat because under the guise of antifascism and victory, freedom and democracy were abolished," said Mandić.

The office of Karlovac County head Martina Furdek Hajdin, also a member of the ruling HDZ party, said that she laid a wreath and lit a candle on Europe Day in memory of the victims of all totalitarian regimes.

"Unfortunately we are again witnessing a war in Europe, an aggression on Ukraine and the suffering of innocent victims, which even more underlines the importance of strengthening the values of democracy and unity in Europe," she said.

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ZAGREB, 9 May 2022 - Istria County head Boris Miletić on Monday laid wreaths on the occasion of the Day of Victory over Fascism, expressing regret that the historically important observance was taking place at a time when yet another war was raging in Europe and Europe was witnessing destruction and human suffering.

"Istria can set an example to the entire world of how to love what is yours, care about your own identity and values without belittling others'. We opted for antifascism, respect for human and minority rights, and for multiculturalism here a long time ago," Miletić said in Pula after laying a wreath at a memorial for the fallen Istria antifascist fighters and victims of fascism.

Even now, in the 21st century, women's rights and freedoms are being brought into question, the strong are oppressing the weak, and arms are being taken up, which is why everyone "should speak up even more loudly about injustice and stand for peace and the freedoms won," Miletić said, noting that today's anniversary provided an opportunity to recall the horrors of WWII and the 1991-95 Homeland War and their long-lasting negative and painful consequences.

On the occasion of Europe Day, Pula's Valli cinema will show "Donbass", a drama film by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, which won the Un Certain Regard award for Best Director at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Silver Pyramid at the 40th Cairo International Film Festival.

Proceeds from the admission fee will be donated to the Red Cross Pula for assistance to displaced persons from Ukraine who have found refuge in Croatia.

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ZAGREB, 5 Aug 2021 - Croatia marks Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Veterans Day on August 5 to remember Operation Storm, a joint military and police operation that ended a Serb armed rebellion in August 1995, and restored Croatian sovereignty over occupied central and southern parts of the country.

The central ceremony will be held on Thursday in Knin and the celebration program was drawn up in cooperation with the Croatian Public Health Institute, given the specific circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with no more than 1,000 people attending.

The entire state leadership is expected to attend the ceremony in Knin, without representatives of the Serb minority who announced earlier they would not attend the event. 

Operation Storm was a combined military and police operation that ended a Serb armed insurgency in August 1995 and restored Croatian sovereignty over occupied central and southern parts of the country, paving the way for the peaceful reintegration of eastern Croatia in January 1998.

The offensive was launched at 5 am on August 4 along the line running from Bosansko Grahovo to the south to Jasenovac to the east, the front line being more than 630 kilometers long. Within the next 84 hours slightly less than 10,500 square kilometers of territory, almost a fifth of the country was liberated.

The operation culminated on August 5, when the Croatian Army's 4th and 7th Guard Brigades liberated Knin, the heart of the Serb rebellion, displaying a 20-meter-long Croatian flag on the town's fortress at noon.

About 200,000 Croatian soldiers and police took part in the biggest operation of the Homeland War. According to the Homeland War Memorial and Documentation Centre, 196 Croatian personnel were killed, at least 1,100 were wounded and 15 went missing, while losses among Serb forces were several times higher.

Operation Storm marked the end of the war in Croatia, created conditions for the peaceful reintegration of the eastern Danube River region, helped break the siege of the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihać, and enabled the return of refugees and displaced persons.

The legitimacy of Operation Storm has been proved before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. On November 16, 2012, the Appeals Chamber reversed the Trial Chamber's convictions of General Ante Gotovina, commander of the Split Military District, and General Mladen Markac, special police commander, and ordered their immediate release. The generals were in the ICTY's custody on charges of involvement in a joint criminal enterprise and excessive shelling of Knin, Gracac, Obrovac, and Benkovac.

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ZAGREB, 4 Aug, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Wednesday that the fact that some of the army generals will not attend the Victory Day celebration in Knin is not a boycott, but that they received invitations too late.

Who has announced a boycott? Ljubo Ćesić Rojs has not. Josip Đakić is not a general, he is a bum, and a member of parliament, in other words he is nobody. Rojs will be there, Pavao Miljavac will be there and Ante Kotromanović will be there. Of course, not everyone can come every year, but most  people will be there," Milanović said during a visit to the southern town of Sinj.

He said he did not think there was any pressure on some of the generals by the Defence Ministry "because no one can exert pressure on those people," but noted that some of the generals and commanders were put in an awkward position because they received the invitation the day before the event, which was the ministry's responsibility.

During the visit, Milanović conferred high state medals on retired Brigadier Dušan Viro and posthumously on Franciscan Frane Bilokapić for their acts of humanity during the 1991-1995 Homeland War.

He said he did not consider the decoration of General Mladen Kruljac disputable even though he had been found guilty of corruption. "He is a war commander and is decorated what he did in the war. No one is perfect, but what he did in the war is without a doubt impeccable, and he is not the only one."

Judge Dobronić is my candidate for Supreme Court President

Answering questions from the press, Milanović confirmed that 61-year-old Judge Radovan Dobronić is his candidate for the position of Supreme Court President.

He has responded to the call for applications and "now we will see what will those who undermined, torpedoed and dishonoured my previous candidate do," Milanović said, describing Dobronić as smart, educated, honourable and incorruptible.

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ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - The Croatian state leadership will be in Knin on Wednesday to celebrate Victory Day, Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Veterans Day and the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm.

Operation Storm was a combined military and police operation that ended a Serb armed insurgency in August 1995 and restored Croatian sovereignty over occupied central and southern parts of the country, paving the way for the peaceful reintegration of eastern Croatia in January 1998.

The offensive was launched at 5 am on August 4 along the line running from Bosansko Grahovo to the south to Jasenovac to the east, the front line being more than 630 kilometres long. Within the next 84 hours slightly less than 10,500 square kilometres of territory, almost a fifth of the country, was liberated.

The operation culminated on August 5, when the Croatian Army's 4th and 7th Guard Brigades liberated Knin, the heart of the Serb rebellion, displaying a 20-metre-long Croatian flag on the town's fortress at noon.

About 200,000 Croatian soldiers and police took part in the biggest operation of the Homeland War. According to the Homeland War Memorial and Documentation Centre, 196 Croatian personnel were killed, at least 1,100 were wounded and 15 went missing, while losses among Serb forces were several times higher.

The Serb National Council has said that during and after Operation Storm 200,000 Serbs were displaced from Croatia and nearly 2,000 were killed. The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights has reported 677 civilian casualties and 20,000 damaged properties in the area liberated by Operation Storm, while the Documenta NGO put the number of civilian casualties below 677.

Operation Storm marked the end of the war in Croatia, created conditions for the peaceful reintegration of the eastern Danube River region, helped break the siege of the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihac, and enabled the return of refugees and displaced persons.

Today, Croatia celebrates 24 years since its victory over occupiers who harassed and killed civilians for four years by attacking Croatian cities, from Dubrovnik to Vukovar. The anniversary of Operation Storm (Oluja), in which the areas of northern Dalmatia, Lika, Banovina and Kordun were finally liberated from the occupying forces, were celebrated in their own way by the Torcida and Armada groups.

As Morski writes on the 5th of August, 2019, at the beginning of the second half of the match at Poljud in Split between Hajduk and Lokomotiva, Torcida put on a spectacular and interactive choreography show dedicated to the anniversary of Operation Storm and to Homeland Thanksgiving Day.

A large banner attesting to Croatia's destiny to be a free country was displayed, and after the roleplay, in which a Serbian tank is destroyed by a Croatian one, the raising of a large Croatian coat of arms followed. On one side the Croatian flag as raised, and on the other, paper tanks were shown being defeated, set on fire and destroyed. After that, patriotic Croatian songs were played.

On Krk bridge for the third year in a row, at 21:00, Rijeka's Armada marked the anniversary of Operation Storm with some beautiful choreography.

As many as 222 flares lit up the darkness of the night, which honoured all those killed in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County area - 222 people.

''Unlike in previous years, we've made some changes. First of all, we changed the date because even though the correct time to mark the anniversary is August the 5th, a significant number of war veterans couldn't make it to the area around the bridge, because on that day numerous masses were organised, as were visits to the graves of the dead, as well as some sports, cultural and entertainment gatherings. Therefore, we decided to move it to one day earlier, so that everyone who wants to come can attend our spectacle,'' Dejan Božić, president of KN Armada, told Novi List.

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August 5, 2019 - Split celebrates Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders.

Tens of thousands of people gathered on Sunday for a concert by Marko Perković Thompson, who, at the invitation of the City of Split and the Split Veterans, kicked off on Sunday at 9:30 pm. 

The concert began after the parade of Croatian veterans marched with their flags from war, and the organizers said there were about 80,000 people on the famous waterfront promenade for the Victory Day celebration. The electricity was cut off on the Riva on two occasions, though it did not interfere with the crowd, who continued to sing even without the music.

Nenad Vetma and his band will play on the Riva on Monday night from 9:00 pm.

So, is everything closed on Victory Day?

Most stores on Victory Day will work normally or with Sunday hours. There are no major interruptions in the operation of shopping centers, which will also be open.

Most of the Konzum stores will work Sunday hours on Victory Day. Some branches are closed, but most of them are open at frequented locations. You can find the hours here. 

All Kaufland outlets are also open, with minor differences in opening hours. Some work normally from 7 am to 8 pm or 9 pm, while some work Sunday hours until 2 pm.

Most of the Tommy stores are also open, and you can see their opening hours here.

Interspar and Spar stores are open all over Croatia. Most of them are operating with regular working hours from 7 am to 9 pm, which you can check here.

As with every holiday, all Plodine supermarkets will work Sunday working hours, which is not much different from their regular working hours. Thus, shoppers can visit Plodine in the morning until 10 pm or 11 pm, depending on the regular business hours of each branch. You can find the hours here. 

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