The central ceremony for Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, War Veterans' Day and the 29th anniversary of Operation Storm ended on Monday in Knin with a flyover and a mass in the church. The number of participants was lower than in previous years.

Patriotic songs were played in the morning, followed by wreath-laying ceremonies in the town’s stadium and at the mediaeval fortress in Knin. The church bells rang as the names of the fallen and missing from Operation Storm were read out. The ceremony included gunfire and speeches by high-ranking officials.

As part of the event, MiG21 jets, which supported the ground forces during Operation Storm, flew over the Croatian fighter jets, whose era is coming to an end with the transition to the newly acquired Rafale fighter jets. A demonstration exercise was also carried out by the Croatian army and police.

Plenkovic: We will not allow anyone to distort history

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reacted to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s remarks during a commemoration for the victims of the Croatian military and police action in 1995, saying that he had not listened to Vucic’s speech on Sunday, but would not allow anyone to distort history and that Croatia had fought and won a war of liberation.

Vucic claimed that Croatia had acted against civilians during Operation Storm.

Plenkovic rejected these allegations.

“Croatia carried out liberation operations to recapture its occupied territory. It has done so in partnership with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council in major operations… including the lifting of the siege of Bihac (north-west Bosnia), which had lasted more than three years. Those who fought and won are the winners for their own people and do not want what belongs to others,” he said.