Serbs and Croats Row over Storm Anniversary

Belgrade _ Serbs mourned victims of the 1995 exodus, while Croats got ready to celebrate Monday’s anniversary of Operation Storm.

In Croatia, this key military victory has been named Day of Gratitude to the Homeland Defenders.

Both sides, in different ways, are marking the anniversary of the Croatian Army offensive that ended in the rapid recapture of Serb-held territory in the country and the collapse of the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina, RSK.

In Belgrade, candles were lit in the St Mark’s church in memory of those killed in the action.

In the former rebel Serbian capital of Knin, meanwhile, Croatian leaders will attend celebrations marking the 13th anniversary of the offensive.

Some 200,000 Serbs fled Croatia when government forces crossed UN-patrolled truce lines to crush the Serb rebellion.

Serbia and Croatia still dispute the number of Serb civilians killed in or after the operation. Estimates range from 700 to 1,200.

On Sunday, Serbian President Boris Tadic called on Croatia to investigate crimes and intensify the search for missing Serbs.

“Serbia grieves about Storm as a day of immense sorrow and a calamity and expects an apology from Croatia.”

“Without respect for basic civilisational values, no state in the region can join the European Union,” he added, in an apparent swipe at Croatia’s plans to join the EU.

In a tart response, Croatia’s President, Stjepan Mesic, noted that Serbia had lent strong military support to the rebel takeover of Croatian territory.

“The Serb mutiny was initiated from Belgrade, from where tanks decorated with flowers set off for Croatia,” he said.

Mesic said he had already apologised for any crimes his country's military had committed.

Croatian leaders maintain the offensive was a legitimate action aimed at recovery of the national territory and say crimes committed by Croatian soldiers are being dealt with.

However, Savo Strbac, director of the Informative Documentary Centre Veritas, which lobbies on behalf of the Croatian Serb community, said this was not the case.

Strbac said Serbs were not returning to Croatia because of secret indictments against them for war crimes.

In the 1990s, some Serbian returnees were killed when they returned home. The Croatian Helsinki Committee reported that 24 Serb returnees were killed between 1996 and 1999 in Dalmatia, for example.