FROM THE MEDIA

Serbia's president urges Croatian leaders to condemn 1995 crimes against minority Serbs

Released : Jul 31, 2005 8:53 AM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro-Serbia's president Boris Tadic Sunday urged leaders in neighboring Croatia to condemn crimes committed by its troops against minority Serbs during a military offensive a decade ago.

In a statement, Tadic said that the August 1995 Croatian army blitz, dubbed "The Storm," forced more than 200,000 Serbs to flee their homes and killed more than 2,500.

"Croatia's state and military leadership at the time were indisputably tied to the crimes committed during the Storm operation," Tadic said. "Killing of more than 2,500 people is no individual case, it's an organized crime."

Croatia launched the offensive in August 1995 to recapture territories held by its rebel minority Serbs. The Serbs had taken control of about one third of Croatia in 1991, opposing its secession from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.

The Storm offensive lasted for several days, sending the Serbs fleeing to Serbia, while many who stayed behind were killed by the advancing Croat troops. Most of the Serb refugees still haven't returned to Croatia 10 years after the war.

Croatian leaders have maintained that the 1995 offensive was a legitimate military operation to recapture the country's own lands and that any crimes that occurred were not the result of an organized campaign.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, Netherlands, has indicted several Croatian generals in connection with the operation. A top fugitive, General Ante Gotovina, still remains at large, blocking Croatia's entry into the European Union.

In his statement, Tadic said that the U.N. indictment against the Croat officers shows a link with the state leadership and bolsters claims that crimes against the Serbs were organized and planned.

Tadic added that Serb-Croat relations are key to stability of the region and that their improvement can be achieved only by facing the crimes committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

There was no immediate reaction from Croatia to Tadic's statement.

Earlier this month, Tadic, Serbia's first pro-Western president in decades, attended a commemoration ceremony for nearly 8,000 Muslims killed by Serb troops in Srebrenica in 1995. Tadic faced criticism by nationalists at home for condemning the Srebrenica massacre.