President and Commander-in-Chief of the Army Zoran Milanovic said at a Victory Day event on Monday that Croatia was celebrating its victory in the 1995 Operation "Storm" not out of gloating or to anger or provoke anyone, but to celebrate freedom and remember what had to be done to prevent subjugation.

“We are not celebrating Operation Storm to rejoice in the defeat of the other side, in innocent victims or in any casualties. Our sympathies go out to all the families who lost their loved ones. We are not celebrating to provoke or anger anyone,” said Milanovic in his speech at the central commemoration ceremony in Knin.

Croatia does not want to promote militarism or impose a warlike spirit on its citizens, Milanovic said.

Most important war victory in its modern history

“We are here to celebrate our victory and to remember how much blood, suffering and determination it took to resist subjugation, and to never forget that we must not trade our freedom for any treasures of this world,” the President said.

Croatia is celebrating for the 29th time its most important war victory in its modern history, the courage and skill of its soldiers who brought us freedom, and the awareness that we as a nation are indebted to the men and women who sacrificed their lives and health, Milanovic said, adding that this also applies to “the brothers and sisters in Bosnia and Herzegovina”

“Storm would not have been possible without the involvement of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and without taking control of Kupres, Dinara and BiH in the hinterland of Knin in the months and days before Storm. These operations were an arduous process to create the conditions for the most effective option to liberate the occupied territory here in the south, where it all began,” he said.

Nothing was given to us for free

It can hardly be said that everything was perfect, but one of the most important principles of the leadership in the Homeland War was concern for the lives of our soldiers, which is why our losses in the war were “relatively bearable”, Milanovic said, recalling that the last liberation operations were preceded by years of training and armament under very unfavourable international circumstances.

“The help of today’s Western allies was sporadic. We did not get anything for free. I do not want to lament or accuse anyone, I am saying this for the sake of historical truth and also so that we realise that only we really care about our country,” he said.

Strategic partnerships and alliances are welcome, but the foundation is the unshakable belief that Croatia depends on its people and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the good of their country, as well as their willingness to stand by each other despite their differences and disagreements, so that no one is left on their own and helpless, Milanovic said.

True happiness for our homeland will not come from the outside

“If we tie our present and future too much to one sponsor, we become an instrument for the enforcement of someone else’s interests, a condition that is not unknown in our history, and in such a scenario our people can only lose in the long run. The real or perceived ties of each of us to foreign centres of power will not bring us happiness. It is an illusion to believe that general well-being can be achieved through shortcuts or connections,” he said.

We should be sceptical of anyone who would have us believe that we can achieve prosperity and security by someone’s grace without working and without taking responsibility for the path we take, the President said.

“True happiness for our homeland will not come from the outside or from someone who does not understand our peculiarities and identity, our history and mentality,” Milanovic said.