Croatia today celebrates Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Veterans Day, and the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, remembering August 5, 1995, when Knin was liberated.
Across Croatia today, Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Veterans Day, and the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm are being commemorated. This is a national holiday and a non-working day dedicated to remembering one of the most significant military actions in recent Croatian history, which broke the occupation and restored the constitutional and legal order across a large part of the territory.
Operation Storm began on August 4, 1995, in the early morning hours. The Croatian Army and Police moved to liberate occupied areas, and on the very first day, Sveti Rok fell. The key moment occurred on August 5, 1995, when the city of Knin was liberated. At exactly noon, a twenty-meter Croatian flag unfurled on the Knin fortress, symbolically marking the end of the Greater Serbian rebellion in that area.
The operation continued at great speed. By August 6, 1995, Plaško, Lički Osik, Vrhovine, Obrovac, Korenica, Slunj, and Plitvice had been liberated. By August 7, 1995, when the operation concluded, the Croatian Army and Police had liberated a total of 11,000 square kilometers of previously occupied territory. Among the liberated places were also Gračac, Lovinac, Benkovac, Kijevo, Vrlika, Dubica, and Primišlje near Slunj.
After 84 hours of fighting, Croatian forces reached the internationally recognized border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Operation Storm not only militarily defeated enemy forces but also created the conditions for the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region and the final conclusion of the Homeland War. Today, on this date, tribute is paid to all Croatian veterans who took part in that historic victory.
