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Commemoration Day for victims of armed action "Storm" marked

Novi Sad, 4 August 2022

President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Chair of the Assembly of Serbia Vladimir Orlic, Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik and President of the Republic of Srpska Zeljka Cvijanovic attended tonight at Freedom Square in Novi Sad commemorating the Day of Remembrance for all victims and exiles in the Croatian armed action "Storm".

Serbian Patriarch Porfirije said at the commemoration of the 27^th anniversary marking the Croatian army and police action "Storm" in which 250,000 Serbs were expelled from Croatia and more than 1,700 were killed and disappeared, that we have to forgive, but that we must not forget.

After the memorial service for the victims of the "Storm" action, the Patriarch said that we must forgive because it is a Gospel commandment, but that we will not forget the suffering of our people in any other way.

He said that tonight we pray for the repose of all the innocent victims of the terrible August days of 1995.

We gathered to prayerfully remember the violent exodus of our people from the areas of Dalmatia, Banija, Kordun, Lika and Western Slavonia, Patriarch Porfirije noted.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said that the first reason for this commemoration is to remember the 250,000 exiled, and the second is to never forget, for all those who shamefully and deliberately forget their own victims.

For years, there was no one in Serbia to remember our victims, there was no one to say that they bombed those columns, killing children and old people, little brothers and sisters. With that, we bombarded them ourselves and were the ones to throw a stone at the saddest column. We did that for almost 18 years. We burdened our own people with a sense of guilt, those who believed that it was our own fault that they were killing and expelling us, and during that time of oblivion, Serbia was falling apart in silence, said Vucic.

According to him, because of the situation in Ukraine, many people got united in respect of Serbia, they thought they had an opportunity to start destroying the Serbian people.

They thought it is a good time, but they are wrong about one thing. This is not the same Serbia; this is not a Serbia that will fear you and will not stand before you. We will protect Serbia, and we will respond to their hysteria, lies and threats with patience, but also with determination. We will never forget the suffering of the people from Krajina. We will protect and defend our Serbia! Never again will silence cover the crimes against our people. We will pray for peace, but we will defend our people. For years, we have been sending the message that there will be no more "Storm" because we will no longer be silent, the President of Serbia pointed out.

The President of Serbia stated that the "Storm" wounded our people, but Serbia and Republika Srpska gained many wonderful people.

We will always accept and repent for the crimes committed by some of our compatriots, but we will never again be silent and ashamed of the crimes committed against our people. Trust is important, that word has become a staple of politicians who are usually not strong enough. We must look to the future together. Don't expect the Serbs to give up their dead. Glory be to all the victims. Long live Serbia and Republika Srpska, he said.

Serbian member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik said that nine years ago, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic started the Day of Remembrance, so that the victims would never be forgotten.

“Storm” is a pogrom, it is a crime, it is a genocide, it is an ethnic cleansing, it is a continuation of what we could see from the Second World War. The final solution for the Serbs, as Tudjman said, is to disappear, to never recover, but here we are, we have not disappeared, Dodik pointed out.

Tonight's gathering was also attended by ministers in the government of Serbia, members of the Assembly of Serbia, Mayor of Novi Sad Milos Vucevic and Chair of the Provincial Government Igor Mirovic.