The president of the 7th Guards Brigade 'Puma' Association said at the central celebration of the 31st anniversary of Operation Storm that the truth about the Homeland War must not be distorted.
At the central celebration of the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, Robert Puja, president of the 7th Guards Brigade 'Puma' Association, delivered a powerful speech in which he emphasized that Croatian veterans are proud of their role in creating a free and independent Croatia. He stressed that, despite attempts to revise history, it is well known to everyone who was the aggressor in the Homeland War and who defended their home.
"There are attempts to portray responsibility and guilt as equal, even though it is very well known to everyone who was the aggressor and who defended their home and their homeland," Puja said, as reported by 24sata. He pointed out that Operation Storm was a response to the multi-year occupation of Croatian territories and an action that broke the Serbian aggressor, becoming a symbol of Croatian victory.
Puja emphasized that the Homeland War was just, defensive, and liberating, and that it is crucial for younger generations to embrace this truth. He also reminded of the immense difficulties veterans faced in the early 1990s, including a lack of weaponry and the international arms embargo, but stressed that despite everything, they did not waver in their fight.
"Croatia today is a strong, stable, and secure state, a member of the EU and NATO, a country of numerous achievements and great opportunities. It is a state built by Croatian veterans, one we can all be proud of, the Croatia we dreamed of and fought for," Puja said.
As the most painful and still unresolved issue from the Homeland War, Puja cited resolving the fate of missing persons. "Although immense efforts have been made and significant results achieved in the past ten years, many fates remain unknown today. Therefore, on this occasion as well, I join the appeal of their families and the Ministry of Croatian Veterans and call on all those who can help to finally do so," he said.
He also sent a sharp message to those who, as he said, from the other side of the Danube and Sava, incite inflammatory rhetoric and sow the seeds of hatred. "To those who still do not know what happened, especially to those who from the other side of the Danube and Sava incite inflammatory rhetoric and sow the seeds of hatred, I say that the victorious Storm is the crown of all our actions, and we will celebrate it as long as our hearts beat," he emphasized.
Puja, an officer of the Croatian Army who was a member of the 1st and then the 7th Guards Brigade during the Homeland War and was wounded in Operation Summer '95, particularly stressed that the role of Croatian veterans must be evaluated solely through the truth about the Homeland War. "That is why we want our role to be evaluated solely through the truth about the Homeland War and never to be identified with any past regime, because Croatian veterans do not belong to that," he concluded.
