Croatian ministers Lovro Kuscevic, Damir Krsticevic and Tomo Medved on Sunday rejected a statement by Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, who compared Croatia to Hitler's Germany, and underscored that Operation Storm was the crown of a just, defence war.

The ministers told Vucic he had to face up to historical facts that the Greater Serbia policy, with the assistance of the Yugoslav army, waged aggression against Croatia.

Administration Minister Kuscevic said that the Homeland War was a just defence war on which the Republic of Croatia was built and that everyone had to reconcile with that. “That is one of the preconditions to the continuation of better cooperation,” Kuscevic said.

Commenting on the fact that the president of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS) Milorad Pupovac attended today’s anniversary, Kuscevic said that he sincerely hoped Pupovac too and everyone else would realise the grandeur of this day.

Defence Minister Krsticevic underscored that “we didn’t start the war, we defended ourselves and later liberated Croatia, created an army and police that were capable of conducting such a strong ‘Storm’.”

“We see that Storm was the crowning victory in the Homeland War. Storm is a symbol of military success and heroism and the Homeland War is something that is the best, it united us and showed that when we are united when we have a common goal, there isn’t anything that we can’t do,” Krsticevic said.

Veterans Affairs’ Minister Medved said that Vucic’s and similar statements of others uttered over the years have “unfortunately become their standard practice.”

“The fact is that they have to face historical facts that the Greater Serbia policy, with the assistance of the Yugoslav army, waged an aggression against Croatia which had every legitimate right to conduct its liberating operations like Storm as the crown of all battles,” Medved said.

On Saturday Vucic lambasted Croatia, the Homeland War and Operation Storm and said that “Hitler wanted a world free of Jews and Croatia wanted a country free of Serbs.” Vucic said that Operation Storm was motivated by hatred towards Serbs and that strong Serbia would never again allow another Storm.