Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader and member of parliament Milorad Pupovac on Saturday declined to comment on demands by war veterans who said he should state his position on the Homeland War and Operation Storm, but he announced that he will soon respond.

Operation Storm was a military and police operation that ended a Serb armed rebellion in August 1995 and restored Croatian sovereignty in occupied central and southern parts of the country.

While it is celebrated in Croatia, it is criticised in Serbia.

“As regards our response to the developments in Vukovar, the issue of war crimes and the issue of minority rights – you will have it soon,” Pupovac told reporters briefly after attending a round table discussion organised by the GONG NGO in Zagreb.

Associations of war veterans have asked the SDSS leader, who is a partner in the HDZ-led coalition government, to state his position on Croatia’s 1991-95 Homeland War and the 1995 Operation Storm after he attended a commemoration in Backa Palanka, Serbia, for the victims of Operation Storm on August 5, and after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made statements at the event that were met with sharp criticism in Croatia.

The mayor of the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar, Ivan Penava, has announced for October 13 a protest against the lack of efficiency in the prosecution of war crimes, and the date of the protest coincides with sports games to be held in that town by the association of disabled war veterans HVIDRA.