The 10th anniversary of 'Oluja' was marked in Belgrade yesterday by a protest walk of expelled Serbs in front of Croatia Embassy, memorial service at St. Marko Church and a program at Nikola Pasic Square. About hundred of Serbs expelled from Krajina in Croatia yesterday gathered in front of Croatia Embassy requesting from the authorities of that country to give answer as to what had happened with 2,627 Serbs that disappeared in the period between 1991 to 1995. They also laid roses on the pavement in front of the embassy building. Although their arrival was announced, nobody of the Croatia Embassy appeared to take the list with the names of missing people. Croatian and also the neighboring USA Embassy were secured by strong police forces.
Serbs from Croatia then went to St. Marko Church where Serbian Patriarch Pavle held memorial service for the people killed during war in Croatia. Serbia President and Prime Minister, Boris Tadic and Vojislav Kostunica attended the service.
Commemoration service to the killed Serbs was also held in Banjaluka yesterday at the Holly Trinity Church in the presence of the highest officials of the Republic of Srpska.
'Ten years ago Serbs in Krajina were rooted out in just a couple of days. Thousands of innocent people were killed and more than 250,000 expelled. People in endless column from Knin to Belgrade was a spectacle of horrible crime never seen before and is the largest ethnic cleansing after the WWII', Serbia Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said.
'Ten years have passed, but still there has been no justice or recognition of the whole truth. Consequences of this tragedy shall remain forever. This crime shall be not only the part of the history of Serbs but of the inhumanity as well. There is an important task for us to fulfil. That task is return of the expelled people to their homes and return of human rights to them. That is the only way leading towards real peace, justice, reconciliation and European future', Serbia prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of 'Oluja' military operation in Croatia.
Serbia President Boris Tadic said that 10 years ago 'an organized crime of premeditated killing' had occurred.
'Ten years after 'Oluja' action Croatia is celebrating, while Serbs are in sorrow. It was an organized crime and that fact cannot be neglected. That is why I said that I was expecting reaction by Croatia officials to the crime that had been committed. I do not intend to stop speaking about the victims in all nations because that is precondition for new values in the Balkans and European future for the generations to come. I am doing that for good relations between Serbia and Croatia. These relations are of vital importance but if we want them to be the best the evils that we and they have done to one another have to be recognized', Serbia president Boris Tadic said on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of 'Oluja' operation.
Copyright 2005 Blic
Posted for Fair Use only.