Operation Storm victims remembered

A commemorative service was held in Belgrade to mark 15 years since the Croatian military Operation Storm and the exodus of ethnic Serbs from that country. Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej held the service before a number of officials, including Serbian President Boris Tadic, Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Krkobabic and General Secretary of the Serbian parliament Veljko Odalovic, as well as many people who gathered on the occasion. Operation Storm victims remembered "We have gathered here today to remember in prayer the people killed 15 years ago, who were guilty first of being Orthodox and second of being Serbs," the patriarch said after the service. He added that the crime, "which is still not over", was happening at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, at a time the world prided itself with science, democracy, philosophy and art. "The most tragic part is that the crime is still ongoing - the world is watching this and doing nothing to find the graves of the people who disappeared," Patriarch Irinej said and added that the exiled Serbs continue to live in great hardship, "yearning to return to their homes, but unable to do so". "Those who have returned live in great fear and uncertainty," he said, noting that the situation was "the same for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija". Secretary General of the Association of Serbs in Croatia, Milojko Budimir, attended the service and said that according to statistics of the UNHCR, about 53,000 Serbs have returned to Croatia, but that the return of refugees was still moving at a slow pace. “The situation of the Serbs 15 years after Storm is still not any different than it was in the first year (after their exile),” Budimir said, adding that Croatia has yet to solve questions related to the property rights of refugee Serbs. He said that those that have returned to Croatia are also facing problems, with the state not recognizing their years of employment in Croatia and their rights to a pension. Budimir said that conditions should be created for the return of Serbs that want to go to their homes in Croatia, adding that the integration into the Serbian community should be enabled for those who do not wish to return. On August 4, 1995, Croatian forces in Croatia, and Muslims in Bosnia, launched Operation Storm, which was shortly followed by Operation Mistral, in the process of which around 2,650 Serbs were killed and 340,000 driven from their homes in the Serb areas in Croatia, and parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Close to 2,000 Serbs were killed or went missing and 220,000 exiled in Operation Storm in Croatia, and another 655 killed and 125,000 exiled in Operation Mistral in western Bosnia, which was launched on September 8 and executed together with the 5th Corps of the Muslim Bosnian forces. Tadic, right, attends the service (Tanjug)

Operation Storm victims remembered

"We have gathered here today to remember in prayer the people killed 15 years ago, who were guilty first of being Orthodox and second of being Serbs," the patriarch said after the service.

He added that the crime, "which is still not over", was happening at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, at a time the world prided itself with science, democracy, philosophy and art.

"The most tragic part is that the crime is still ongoing - the world is watching this and doing nothing to find the graves of the people who disappeared," Patriarch Irinej said and added that the exiled Serbs continue to live in great hardship, "yearning to return to their homes, but unable to do so".

"Those who have returned live in great fear and uncertainty," he said, noting that the situation was "the same for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija".

Secretary General of the Association of Serbs in Croatia, Milojko Budimir, attended the service and said that according to statistics of the UNHCR, about 53,000 Serbs have returned to Croatia, but that the return of refugees was still moving at a slow pace.

“The situation of the Serbs 15 years after Storm is still not any different than it was in the first year (after their exile),” Budimir said, adding that Croatia has yet to solve questions related to the property rights of refugee Serbs.

He said that those that have returned to Croatia are also facing problems, with the state not recognizing their years of employment in Croatia and their rights to a pension.

Budimir said that conditions should be created for the return of Serbs that want to go to their homes in Croatia, adding that the integration into the Serbian community should be enabled for those who do not wish to return.

On August 4, 1995, Croatian forces in Croatia, and Muslims in Bosnia, launched Operation Storm, which was shortly followed by Operation Mistral, in the process of which around 2,650 Serbs were killed and 340,000 driven from their homes in the Serb areas in Croatia, and parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Close to 2,000 Serbs were killed or went missing and 220,000 exiled in Operation Storm in Croatia, and another 655 killed and 125,000 exiled in Operation Mistral in western Bosnia, which was launched on September 8 and executed together with the 5th Corps of the Muslim Bosnian forces.