Orešković Calls Out State Leadership
MP sharply criticizes institutional silence after Ustaša salute heard at Knin celebration, saying authorities allow distortion of the Homeland War's image.
MP sharply criticizes institutional silence after Ustaša salute heard at Knin celebration, saying authorities allow distortion of the Homeland War's image.
MP Dalija Orešković fiercely criticized the state leadership for failing to respond to events at the commemorations of Operation Storm in Knin, where Dražen Keleminec and a group of supporters shouted "Za dom spremni" on August 5, 2026. According to her, such incidents prove that Croatia, 31 years after the war ended, has still not reached the standards of a rule-of-law state.
"Thirty-one years after the end of the war, Croatia has still not fully built itself as a rule-of-law state. If we were a rule-of-law state, Keleminec and those like him would not be able to shout 'Za dom spremni' at today's Operation Storm commemoration," Orešković said in a social media post, as reported by DalmacijaDanas.
The MP placed particular emphasis on the absence of any condemnation from the top of the government, noting that the country's leaders, even after three decades, do not know how to position themselves on what she called an elementary issue. "Three decades have passed, and our state leadership still cannot clearly take a stand on a very simple question," she stated, as reported by Slobodna Dalmacija.
Orešković added that beyond formal and protocol speeches, the authorities do not react to phenomena such as the display of the Rafael Boban unit or the shouts that echo through public spaces and events. She believes the silence of institutions and officials is not accidental. "There is something in that silence. Sometimes it is the loudest sound you can hear," she emphasized.
She also addressed voices on social media advocating for ignoring such outbursts. She is convinced that it is precisely years of impunity and turning a blind eye that have led younger generations to have a completely distorted perception of the Homeland War and Operation Storm itself.
"Some comments on social media say we should simply ignore these things. It is through ignoring that we have brought about a situation where young people's perceptions of the Homeland War and the images of Operation Storm have been pushed to absurdity," the MP explained. She concluded that the dominant image of this year's celebration does not come from official protocol frameworks, but from the scenes and shouts that could be heard on the streets of Knin.
"The image of Operation Storm today is the one sent outside the official protocol. An Operation Storm we led with the Ustaša salute from World War II. Because the authorities allow it," Orešković concluded.
