Operation Storm commemoration in Sremska Raca (PHOTOS)

Operation Storm commemoration in Sremska Raca (PHOTOS)

The ceremony at Sremska Raca - on the border formed by the Drina River between Serbia and the Serb entity in Bosnia, the Serb Republic (RS), started with Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic and RS President Milorad Dodik meeting on a bridge and placing wreaths in the river. It was across this bridge that the hundreds of thousands of refugees crossed into Serbia 20 years ago.

Several thousand citizens, as well as government ministers and parliament representatives all gathered for the ceremony, while SPC Patriarch Irinej led the memorial service. President of the organizing committee Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that August 5 will in the future be marked as Day of Remembrance. The government has appealed on citizens to on Wednesday observe a day of mourning.

Patriarch Irinej spoke during the ceremony last night to say that 20 years ago "the Serb people suffered at the hands of their brothers to whom they are tied with history." Vucic urged forgiving but not forgetting the crimes and described Operation Storm as a campaign of ethnic cleansing and a senseless massacre of the Serb people.

Djurdjica Popovic, a woman who 20 years ago arrived in Serbia as one of the refugees, also addressed the commemoration to speak about her path.