Grabar-Kitarovic warns Belgrade "not to sow seed of evil"

Grabar-Kitarovic warns Belgrade "not to sow seed of evil"

"Today, when Serbian politicians declare that genocide was carried out during Storm against Serbs and compare it with the genocide in Srebrenica, I am telling them: gentlemen, give up on the myths, lies and deception. Turn to the European future - Croatia is not an enemy of Serbia, do not sow new seeds of evil," said she.

Grabar-Kitarovic also "pointed out that Croats are a people who celebrate victories, not defeats."

"We know what blood-acquired freedom is, because the war was here and not far away. From this place my message is: this gathering is not directed against anyone, and so not against Serbia. Today we celebrate victory and unity, we celebrate the return to constitutional order," said the Croatian president whose speech was repeatedly interrupted by applause and chants of her name.

She added that Operation Storm "prevented the fall of the safe area of ​​Bihac," while "the military defeat of Milosevic's Greater Serbia policy paved the way for his defeat in Serbia and the arrival of democratic forces to power."

According to her, "it is not good that today in Serbia those who were very quiet at that time or loudly supported Milosevic's policy are loud today." Grabar-Kitarovic also said she "will not allow the aggressor and the victim to be equalized."

"We grieve for every lost life, both Croat and Serb, and I emphasize that the cause of this was Milosevic's expansionist policy," said she, and also stressed that the Hague Tribunal's rulings acquitting Croatian generals accused of committing war crimes "gave international legitimacy to Operation Storm."

"No one denies that after Storm crimes and murders took place -but Storm was a clean action," said the Croatian president.

In her speech, she "rejected attempts to impose the thesis that the Serbs in Croatia are today second-class citizens," and added that "she would be happy if the Croats in Serbia had the same rights as the Serbs in Croatia."

Several thousand people gathered in Knin today and at every turn enthusiastically greeted Grabar-Kitarovic, while Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who was present at the raising of the Croatian flag on the Knin Fortress, received whistles.

The situation was similar last year when Milanovic's speech "could not be heard from the whistles," Beta said in its report.

Milanovic did not address the ceremony this year, and left town after placing a wreath at a memorial and attending the flag raising ceremony.

The prime minister also missed "a mass for the defenders" held in a new Catholic church in Knin. The mass was led by Archbishop of Zagreb Cardinal Josip Bozanic and was attended by the Croatian president and the entire top echelon of her HDZ party The mass was also attended by chairman of the Bosnian Presidency, Croat representative Dragan Covic.

Unlike the military parade in Zagreb on Wednesday, "today's protocol for the head of state and the prime minister was for the most part separate," the agency said, and noted they come from different parties, namely, the state-level opposition HDZ, which is in power in Knin, and the ruling Social-Democratic Party.

Many delegations placed wreaths at a memorial dubbed "Storm 95" - including a delegation of the Mothers of Srebrenica association.

This ended the official program, that will be followed by "culture and entertainment." One of those taking part will be "controversial singer Marko Perkovic Thompson" during whose performances "the Ustasha iconography appears."