AUGUST 4 MUST REMAIN ETERNAL WARNING

DRVAR, AUGUST 4 /SRNA/ – August 4, 1995, must remain an eternal warning; the suffering of the Krajina Serbs must not be forgotten, Goran Broćeta, a deputy in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, cited in his SRNA statement.

Broćeta emphasized that the Serb people, wherever they live, must never forget the torment they endured, because the victims, suffering, and pain are not only part of wartime reality but of peacetime, too.

“We are standing at the places where convoys of Serb refugees from Lika and Dalmatia crossed paths, remembering the unimaginable suffering, persecution, and hardships of the Krajina Serbs. The expulsion of the entire Serb population, the killing of innocent people, looting, and burning of their property – that is a crime,” Broćeta stated.

He stressed that this crime was never condemned by the Western world, which unfortunately, through its involvement and the bombing of civilians, provided logistical support.

He believes that the criminal Croatian Operation Storm must forever be remembered as one of the most tragic days in modern Serb history.

“August 4 must remain an eternal warning. We must remember it with our heads held high and with pride. That is exactly what has always made us indestructible fighters for the freedom and dignity of our people,” said Broćeta.

He added that the suffering of the Krajina Serbs must not be forgotten, because it obligates us to ensure that “Storms, Maestrals, and other evil winds” never happen again.

The criminal Operation Storm began on August 4, 1995, with an offensive by the Croatian Army and Police, along with HVO units, in the areas of Banija, Lika, Kordun, and north Dalmatia.

The next day, August 5, Croatian forces entered the nearly abandoned town of Knin and raised the Croatian flag, while convoys of refugees were crossing Serb-controlled territories in BiH heading toward Serbia.

According to "Veritas", more than 220,000 Serbs were expelled during the Storm. 1,903 names are registered as killed or missing during and after the operation - of whom 1,247 /66%/ were civilians, around three-quarters of whom were over 60 years old.

During the operation and after the fall of Krajina, the Croatian army committed crimes against Serb civilians, and more than 22,000 Serbian homes were burned.

In a 2015 ruling, the International Court of Justice classified Operation Storm as ethnic cleansing, but not as genocide, although global experts in the field argue that the operation bore all the elements of genocide.