Serbia condemns Croatia for glorifying war criminals

15:19, August 08, 2011

Serbian President Boris Tadic on Sunday reproached Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor for her open praise of Croatian generals convicted of war crimes.

Kosor thanked former General Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac for their roles in "Operation Storm" in 1995, which resulted in the exodus of ethnic Serbs from Croatia.

The military offensive on August 5, 1995 in Knin, the former capital of the rebel Serb republic which sought independence from Croatia after it seceded from the former Yugoslavia, has been arousing disputes in recent years.

August 5, now observed as a national holiday in Croatia, is mourned every year in Serbia.

"Without Storm and the commanders who led it, we would not be here today and would have nothing to celebrate," said Kosor, extending greetings to war veterans and generals, especially Gotovina and Markac.

"The statement by Prime Minister Kosor does not contribute to the development of good neighborly relations between our two countries," said Tadic in his statement.

"The two countries have been trying to raise their cooperation to a higher level ever since the serious conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s left behind a large number of casualties, missing persons and people expelled from their homes,"he said.

Tadic stated that a significant number of innocent lives were lost during "Operation Storm" as it drove more than 200,000 Serbs from the territory.

Tadic said that Serbia, which had delivered 46 indicted war criminals to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) had never praised war criminals, despite domestic political pressures.

"No election campaign or power struggle should be reason to glorify those who committed war crimes. It is a very irresponsible policy," stated Tadic.

In April, Gotovina was found guilty of participating in a joint enterprise aimed at the forcible and permanent removal of the ethnic Serb population and sentenced to 24 years in prison. Markac was sentenced to 18 years in jail terms.

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（Editor：陈乐乐）

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Toni at 2011-08-0993.138.43.*: @PDUser, I totally agree with you. We have never heard Serbia and Tadic mourn for around 300.000 non Serbs that Serbs evicted from their homes in the period of the so called "Krajina" from 1991-1995. What they did was a tipical genocide, plus they occupied 1/3 of Croatia dividing the country apart in two pieces. During that 4 years Serbs from occupied territory also shelled and bombed other parts of Croatia. Tell me, anyone, what country in the world would tolerate that kind of situation for that long!? Croatia was patient, Croatia tried to talk with the rebel Serbs to end that occupation, but Milosevic, Mladic, Karadzic, Hadzic and other Serbian leaders didn't want peace, just war - a Great Serbia was their main goal. And still is. That is why Tadic now acts like nothing bad happened before Croatian Operation Storm that liberated Croatian territory. Well it did. Storm was just a result of Serbian agressive fascist politics. As simple as that. Not a single Croatian soldier set a foot on Serbian soil, not a single bomb from Croatia fell down on Serbia. Everything happened in Croatia! And in Bosnia - another Serbian neighbor that Serbia attacked trying to form a Great Serbia...
sunse at 2011-08-09207.6.234.*: I think whoever wrote this needs to check his or her facts --
Jane at 2011-08-0969.209.74.*: Well, isn"t it always OK to glorify anyone that murders Serbs, anyways? As long as a minimal requirement for cynical comments by "impartial" and " civilized" westerners is met, of course. There always has to be a whipping boy for the great West ant therefore they don"t really mind the brutality of their junkyard dogs at all.
PD User at 2011-08-0824.57.6.*: Serbia is the last country in the world that should be lecturing anybody about war criminals. Had Serbia not attacked Croatia, then there would not have been a war. I think that Croatia should also have a week of mourning for all the victims of Serb aggression and the Greater Serbia ideology. Let's not forget Vukovar and the Serbs completely destroyed the city and its people.
MMO.J.I.Joe at 2011-08-08109.93.85.*: Joint CRIMINAL enterprise wich led to the now decised Franjo Tudjman,first croatia president (from Communist to Democrat) be more precise W.P. makes it seem like you support war crimes too when one looks how direct you were demonising Mladic,Karadic and Hadjic wich are still in trials thus still inocent untill proven different (and Im sure it will or they'll just be killed like Milosevic). Why are Bosnians and Albanians managing to walk around justice? Muslims or some other reason,I must ask?