22-year-old line: Serbs mourn and Croats celebrate the unfortunate fate of 250,000 exiled people (PHOTO)

22 years anniversary of the political-military operation "Storm" will be marked this year in Serbia and Croatia, as it was marked in the previous years, which is celebrated by official Zagreb as the day of Victory and Homeland Gratitude and The day of the Defenders, while in Serbia, 4th and 5th August will be marked with commemorations and with memory on the victims and banished people in this operation.

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Military-police operation "Storm" began on 4th and lasted until 5th August and during its duration, Croatian forces killed at least 1.800 people of Serbian nationality and banished 250.000, after which they established control in the territory of the then Republic of Serbian Krajina.

Military operation "Storm" is the most massive and one of the cruelest ethnic cleansing for Serbia that happened in the wars in the former SFRY where about 62% of the victims were civilians.

The entire operation of the Croatian military had the goal to emigrate the citizens of Serbian nationality, and there were records of the burning, robbery, and liquidations of the few Serbs who didn't want to leave their homes.

The number of refugees is differently estimated - Croatian sources have data of 90,000 people, the UN about 150,000, and Serbia has data of at least 250.000.

Foto: Profimedia/Corbis

No one answered for the crimes committed during the "Storm" in Croatia. 

Three Croatian generals - Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markac, and Ivan Cerkam, even though the first two were sentenced to 24 and 18 years in prison, were later released from all charges, which causes fierce reactions in Serbia, and delight in Croatia. Cermak was released earlier, in April 2011.

The Memorial Day in Serbia will be marked this year at the Veternik Stadium in Novi Sad in the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who will meet with representatives of Serbs from the region.

On the other side, everything is ready in Knin to mark the Victory Day and Homeland Gratitude and the day of Defenders, organized by the Ministry of the Defence, Defenders and Interior affairs.

The organizing committee for marking this anniversary announced that all preparations had been completed and that the following two days in Knin will be marked in a solemn and dignified way.

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The arrival of several dozens of citizens from all parts of Croatia is expected in Knin, as the state secretary in the Ministry of defense, Tomislav Ivic, said.

He invited citizens to come to Knin and give their contribution in marking of, as he said, one of the most important days in recent Croatian history.

- This place has been selected because of the symbolism - Ivic stressed, saying that after the flag was raised after the liberation of Knin, the first message from that place was sent by first president Franjo Tudjman.

Minister of Defenders Tomo Modved invited citizens to show their "state symbols so they could contribute with decent and high quality marking of the date".

The traditional concert of Croatian author who is glorifying the Ustashas, Marko Perkovic Tomson, won't be held in Knin like the previous years, but he will perform on 5th August in Slunj and that manifestation will be co-financed by the Ministry of Defense.

Medved denied that this year's official addresses of President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic will only be on the Knin fortress and not on the central city square because the state top allegedly wants to avoid possible whistles and discomfort.

Foto: Profimedia/Stella Pictures - daily

Commander of the Croatian Army, General Colonel Mate Ostovic, said that more than 800 members of the Armed Forces will take part in the ceremony marking and organizing it.

A session of the Croatian government will be held in Knin, along with a series of other events, and on Friday, the program will start "on the streets" of Knin, which will be performed by the Orchestra of the Armed Forces of Croatia.

Croatia's political analyst Zarko Puhovski said earlier that he believes that "Croatia has lowered the tensions this year about the military action of Storm, for three reasons", the first is that "Serbia received a strong support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel".

- That has shocked some people in Croatia who are counting on German support - said Puhovski in the statement for Radio Slobodna Evropa.

(Telegraf.co.uk)