Delegations of the Croatian government and the City of Zagreb on Sunday laid wreaths at the city's central Mirogoj cemetery ahead of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Croatian Veterans Day and the 24th anniversary of the 1995 Operation Storm.

Operation Storm was a combined military and police operation that was launched on 4 August 1995 and that ended a Serb armed rebellion, helping restore state sovereignty over occupied central and southern parts of the country and enabling the peaceful reintegration of eastern Croatia in January 1998.

Wreaths were laid at the central cross in the Alley of Croatian Homeland War Defenders, at the grave of Croatia’s first president, Franjo Tudjman, and at the common grave of unidentified Homeland War victims.

“Many great men had dreamed of Croatia’s freedom and independence, but only the generation led by President Franjo Tudjman made it a reality,” Parliament Deputy Speaker Zeljko Reiner said at the wreath-laying ceremony, expressing gratitude to all who had fought for the country’s independence.

Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, who also attended the ceremony, commented on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s statement of Saturday, saying that Croats did not need anyone to interpret their history for them.

Vucic on Saturday asked Croatian officials where the 400,000 Croatian Serbs and Yugoslavs registered in the 1981 census, had gone.

“I will only say that we created Croatia’s more recent history and are witnesses to that time and we do not need anyone to interpret our history for us. We are proud of every detail and every minute of our history,” Medved stressed.

He said that Croatia was attacked and defended itself in extremely difficult conditions.

“Croatia managed to defend and liberate its territory and eventually, through peaceful reintegration, restored its constitutional order in the Danube region as well. We are proud of everything we did,” he said.