5 August 2015
20th Anniversary of Operation Storm
Croatian victory over Serb aggressor
Monumental statue in honour of
Franjo Tudjman, first president of Croatia
Photo: Hrvoje Jelavic/PIXSELL
Today, 5th August 2015 is the 20th Anniversary of the Operation Storm, of liberation of Croatia, which put an end to the bloody and brutal Serb aggression and Croatia was liberated on that day from Serb occupation! While Serbs and Serbia will and have come out with barrages of denials of their own crimes of aggression, painting themselves as victims rather than aggressors – just as they did when 20th Anniversary of Srebrenica genocide was marked last month – Croatia is filled with pride at its achievements, bravery and independence.
Monumental statue to
Franjo Tudjman at Knin
Croatia
Today, 20 years after the hard won victory over the Serb aggressor Croatia’s first president Franjo Tudjman, who led Croatia into independence and democracy, secession from communist Yugoslavia received a greatest gift of gratitude: a monumental statue of him and a monumental honour to his name were unveiled at the town of Knin, the centre of the Croatian territory Serbs occupied during the war and ethnically cleansed of all Croats and non-Serbs by mid-1992.
“On this place, on 6th August 1995,
dr Franjo Tudjman, the First President Of Croatia,
victoriously kissed the Croatian flag
and said these words:
We have Croatia.”
Words inscribed at base
of monument in Knin
The base of the monumental statue of Franjo Tudjman in Knin is solid weight of stone that says:
“On this place, on 6th August 1995, dr Franjo Tudjman, the First President Of Croatia, victoriously kissed the Croatian flag and said these words: We have Croatia.”
20th Anniversary of Operation Storm
Liberation of Croatia
Military Parade to honour
the fallen, the brave and liberty
President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic
greets the military parade participants from army vehicle
4th August 2015
Photo: Pixsell
Yesterday, on Tuesday 4th August, a Croatian Army parade was held in the capital Zagreb to mark the 20th anniversary of Operation Storm and victory over the Serb aggressor, with 3,000 participants marching through the centre of the city, with spirits high and cheers and deep respect for those whose life was lost in the defence of the homeland, freedom and democracy. This parade was the first part of the official celebrations held in Croatia, the second part is being held in the heroic town of Knin today, as I said, where battles for freedom and liberation of occupied territory were led in August 1995with utmost determination to be free of the scourge of communism Serb aggression represented.
Crowds celebrate victory in
Zagreb Croatia
4th August 2015
Photo: AA
The joy of victory
Zagreb Croatia
20th Anniversary of Operation Storm
Photo: AA
Croatian war wounded veterans
observe the military parade
and say about the participants:
“you are our pride”
Zagreb
4th August 2015
In attendance at the Army parade in Zagreb were Croatia’s top leadership including President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic who inspected the procession before ordering the start of the parade, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, Minister for defence Ante Kotromanovic, almost all government ministers, political elite and the not so elite, thousands of citizens and war veterans.
Members of historical detachments in colourful uniforms, coming from all parts of Croatia, attracted special attention by the audience. Croatian cadets and members of allied countries drew wide smiles from the onlookers and revellers.
Croatian military parade
20th Anniversary of Operation Storm
historical detachments marched also
Photo: Screenshot HRT news
20 Anniversary of Croatian victory
over Serb aggressor
Photo: Screenshot HRT news
20th Anniversary of victory and liberty
in Croatia
4th August 2015
Photo: Screenshot HRT news
The centerpiece of the artistic program was the performance of the national anthem “Our Beautiful Homeland” by a 12-year-old girl Mia Negovetic and the Croatian Navy “Sveti Juraj” (Saint George) a cappella band.
12-year-old Mia Negovetic
touched everybody’s heart
singing the Croatian national anthem
“Our Beautiful Homeland”
at the 20th Anniversary of Operation Storm
military parade
Photo: Josip Kopi/MORH/PIXSELL
HAPPY VICTORY, HAPPY LIBERTY – CROATIA! Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
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Congratulations! A toast to this anniversary of peace and freedom. Happy victory and happy independence!
🙂
Thank you, Christoph
A great day indeed.
🙂
Happy Victory Anniversary to You and Your Nation
Thank you, SAN
A great day, a great week! What an incredible last few days! Truly beautiful. If every other nation is able to celebrate their victories and history, then why can’t Croatia? Many of us were in tears watching the commemorations unfold as we remembered what the tiny freedom-loving nation of Croatia was able to achieve with little support and great sacrifice. (If this were a larger nation these military operations, to reclaim a huge chunk of the country taken by Serb terrorists, would be studied at academies like West Point.) Truly a spectacular achievement for Croatia and we should all be extremely proud.
God Bless Croatia. Zivjela nasa draga, ponosna, prelijepa Domovina Hrvatska!
(Ina, zivjela, thanks for posting, good to see patriotism is alive and well.)
So proud, Erica, so proud!
Congrats from your Albanian friends. Happy Indipendence day Croatia
Thank you illyrius – this victory in 1995 sealed Croatia’s independence indeed
Ina this is all wonderful. Not to be a wet blanket, but when the euphoria ends and the hangover fades and the flags come down, it would be good for Croatians to take the advice in this article:
http://direktno.hr/en/2014/direkt/21601/Proslavimo-Dan-pobjede-ali-ve%C4%87-sutra-kona%C4%8Dno-se-moramo-uhvatiti-posla.htm
Best line from the piece, (my rough translation):
“We are celebrating Victory Day, we celebrate Operation Storm. But tomorrow, the day after the celebrations, we must finally work on beating the Croatian ‘Yugoslavs’, the Croatian communists, the Greater Serbs in Croatia, and the fifth columnists.
If we do not do this, the joy around the celebrations of Victory Day and Operation Storm will be brief and Croatia will certainly slide closer towards an economic disaster and demographic disappearance. We must and we can prevent this. ”
I agree with this author, while the last few days have truly been filled with tremendous joy and pride, I would add this message to my dear Croats…. let’s take yesterday’s and today’s euphoria, joy, energy, patriotism and work for a better country, to actually vote for a better government, to spill onto the streets, (like our demonstrating war veterans at Savska 66, to seek better than what this dreadful, communist government has served up!
Let’s learn from our Ukrainian friends and their valiant protests on the Maidan!
Why we are unable to come out in droves to demand change when 20 years ago, bloodied and battered, we were able to unite and fight Serbian aggression and expansionism?
Totally agree, Erica – much slackness and intentional destruction and thwarting of goals set for democracy and independence in 1990…no mercy for politicians or government, shape up or shape out
HAPPY CROATIA !
thank you, Erwin
Beautiful.
I would have been aware, of course, of the war, the aftermath and Croatia in the EU, but it is thanks to your writings that I take such an interest in these things.
Aw, thank you, Clare – that,s why I’m in this – to spread the good word (and the not so good so the not so good disappears one day) 🙂
Thanks for all the hard work and commitment that imbues all your posts here. Regards Thom.
Thom – much appreciate your kind words. Thank you!
Wonderful Festivity day.,may peace and love always shine in every heart.Jalal
Thank you, Jalal
You welcome.
🙂
Late, but Happy Victory Day! It was wonderful to see the 20th anniversary happen under a President who at least shows some care towards the country and it’s people. And how wonderful it was to hear our anthem sung so beautifully.
Now, as Erica said in her comment – let’s get to work and create the Croatia we dreamed of & fought for.
About time, about time – Kat! I am afraid, though, that there are still too many who think they know best and stifle progress…worth fighting against those always
It would have truly been a disappointment to see Josipovic preside over the 20th anniversary celebrations. Thank God we got out of that one. Still, I do not find the most Croatia-first, uncompromising leader in Grabar-Kitarovic, which is what Croatia needs in these trying times. Especially against provocations & lies coming from Serbia and a certain sector of Croatia’s political, academic and media “elite”, which make their way around the world.
It does look to me too, Kat, that the new president holds back at times when she shouldn’t when it comes to defending and pointing out the truth of our past. I find myself mostly impressed with her but at times disappointed somewhat as well. So still early days I think …and yes, I could not imagine Josipovic there either, it would have been awful if he were
a happy day indeed!
Cheers, David 🙂
Hi,
I know Jacqui Murray. Croatia! I am a world history teacher. I am Janice. We met on Chris’s site. Thank you for liking my article about how Pinterest can help authors get interest in their literature. Nice to meet you.
Janice
Great to hear, Janice and thank you. am always keen to follow where I can learn and admire 🙂
Congratulations Ina Vukic ! 🙂
Happy victory and happy independence !!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Regards,
Aliosa.
Cheers, Aliosa
I was lucky enough to be in Knin for Victory Day Celebrations. What an amazing day of celebration.
Lucky indeed, Stipo – great to know
What a great day! A great celebration of a great victory; reported in a great way. Bravo to all the great men and women who made this possible. This is what courage and determination can do for a people; and for anyone.
So true and thank you, Ngobesing
You are heartily welcome!
🙂
I’m glad Croatia has something they can celebrate. 🙂
🙂
What a wonderful celebration!
So touched, I was – Carol 🙂 Thank you
Wonderful, no more words needed. Thank you so much. Bye, Pietro
Thank you Piero and cheers
thank you for sharing this post- i feel awful in that i must confess being english i am ignorant of the war you suffered back then- our reporting on any outside world was through tv and newspaper which thanks to the internet we have now all learned was just the most awful propaganda and fear mongering tools that told us nothing of the real world, many think of the internet as just somewhere to play games go on facebook or watch films, to me i am grateful for the internet for i have met wonderful people like you- i have read a little of your amazing work – and through your posts i am learning the true story of what has happened to your beautiful country, i first apologise to you for being ignorant and the victim of a heavily censored and biased media/tv/news but i am also grateful and would like to say thank you to you for helping me open my eyes, i am also glad that you now celebrate this day of liberation and i humbly bow to the knowledge of learning of the oppression, a day to celebrate and be happy thank you for sharing this with me, stay strong my friend you have my total respect x
Thank you Kezia – we do learn as we go but it is a shame that truth comes so hard especially in controlled media etc… I do agree the internet has provided avenues for both deceit and truth but at least the truth is out there ane we find it sooner or later. Cheers
Reblogged this on kizzylee and commented:
ok first i have to say to me the real beauty of the internet is that i meet people like ina who is simply an amazing person and i am awed in her work and her strength, the internet shows me real people in real world situations, secondly to read this post humbles me and reminds me of how lucky i am, thank you to ina for sharing this
What a grand celebration! Everyone looks so happy! 😀 Beaitiful! Good news lifts up the heaviest hearts.
It sure does, thank you Jackie XX
Happy Celebration for Freedom! Hope Peace will Reign. ☆☆☆☆
Thanks Robin, we work towards lasting peace
War is never good. The end of war is always worth celebrating. Truth, so hard to find, is always different depending on who is looking. This is how it happens almost all the time. It’s good to see the region at peace, and, could you put up some new stuff to read? I want to learn more. Thanks, Doug
Thank you, Doug, It is very sad that the truth – as in facts – gets to be different depending on who is looking/politics interfere where it should not for the facts or the truth actually always is the same but as you say, depends who is looking… so once we overcome politics and just stare at bare facts the truth is there – very hard for many…I know even if I don’t accept…