On 4 August 1995, Croatia launched Operation Storm, a decisive four-day military offensive that liberated much of the remaining occupied areas of its internationally recognised territory, defeated the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), and effectively brought the Croatian War of Independence to its successful conclusion. The operation also fundamentally altered the course of the war in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, hastening the end of the wider conflict.

As Croatia marks the 31st anniversary of Operation Storm in 2026, celebrating Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Croatian Veterans’ Day, familiar and competing narratives once again emerge. In Croatia, Operation Storm is commemorated as the culmination of a defensive struggle for national survival and independence. In Serbia, the anniversary is frequently presented primarily through the lens of the exodus of Croatian Serbs.

Historical context, however, matters.

Between 1991 and 1995, approximately one-quarter of Croatia’s territory was occupied by rebel Serb forces, supported politically, militarily and logistically by the regime in Belgrade. During that period, hundreds of thousands of Croats and other non-Serbs were expelled from their homes, while many civilians were killed, imprisoned or subjected to other serious abuses. Entire towns and villages were devastated, and Croatia’s internationally recognised borders were challenged through armed force.

When Operation Storm began on 4 August 1995, Croatian forces rapidly defeated the RSK. As the military collapse became inevitable, the RSK leadership, headed by Milan Martić, issued evacuation orders for the civilian population. At the same time, President Franjo Tuđman publicly appealed to Croatian Serbs to remain in their homes, assuring them that they would enjoy the rights guaranteed to all Croatian citizens.

These facts are central to understanding what followed.

Many Serbian commentators continue to describe the departure of Croatian Serbs as the result of a planned campaign of ethnic cleansing by Croatia. Others—including many Croatian historians and participants in the events—argue that the mass departure occurred primarily because of evacuation orders issued by the RSK leadership, combined with fear generated by the military defeat and uncertainty about the future. Those differing interpretations continue to shape political debate three decades later.

The legal record is also significant. In 2012, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia acquitted Croatian Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač of all charges, concluding that the evidence did not establish the alleged joint criminal enterprise to permanently remove the Serb population from Croatia. That judgment remains a defining legal milestone in the historical assessment of Operation Storm.

None of this diminishes the suffering experienced by innocent civilians of any nationality during the wars of the former Yugoslavia. Every innocent victim deserves remembrance and justice. Yet remembrance must also rest upon historical context. The tragedy of the Serbian civilian exodus cannot be understood in isolation from the years of aggression, occupation, ethnic cleansing and destruction that preceded Operation Storm.

For Croatia, Operation Storm remains far more than a military victory. It represents the restoration of constitutional order over occupied territory, the survival of an independent Croatian state, and the triumph of a nation determined to defend its freedom.

Happy Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving and Veterans’ Day, Croatia.

Ina Vukic