Pavković: Knin Must Belong to Veterans
Mladen Pavković's column sharply criticizes this year's celebration of Operation Storm, highlighting the chasm between the people and politicians and demanding radical changes to the protocol.
Mladen Pavković's column sharply criticizes this year's celebration of Operation Storm, highlighting the chasm between the people and politicians and demanding radical changes to the protocol.
Another anniversary of the military-police operation "Storm" has passed, and the bitter taste in the mouths of the people and veterans remains the same. In his column published on the portal Cronika.hr, author Mladen Pavković sharply criticizes the state protocol of the celebration in Knin, pointing out the incomprehensible divide between the political "elite" and those who built the state.
While politicians were comfortably seated in numbered chairs on the Dinara field, the people and veterans were isolated and crammed into the stands. The television broadcast clearly showed this chasm, and a particular absurdity occurred at the Knin Fortress, where citizens had to follow historical events via video walls. Due to temperatures of 40 degrees and blazing sun, barely anything could be seen on the screens.
"The people are fed up with political cordons and sterile speeches. People go where genuine pride is felt," Pavković wrote, adding that a single solo concert by Marko Perković Thompson attracts more true patriots than the entire state protocol in Knin.
The column particularly emphasizes the absence of key military commanders from the front rows. The audience demands that Generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač, Sačić, Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, Kotromanović, Tolj, Ademija, Jelić, Krstičević, and Šundov appear. They want to see the heroes of the elite units, members of the 7th Guards Brigade "Pume" and the 4th Guards Brigade "Pauci" who swept over the enemy from Dinara and entered the city, as well as the warriors of the 9th Guards Brigade "Vukovi" and the Special Police of the Ministry of Interior who surged from Velebit.
Pavković recalls the alleged statement by General Gotovina, who, according to General Rojs, said he "would not look at the backs of people he doesn't know" and left the celebration after they were seated in the second or third row.
Special criticism is directed at public television. On the anniversary of victory, gratitude to the homeland, and Croatian Veterans Day, August 5, 2026, all HRT channels should broadcast only patriotic content, including documentaries about the war for independence, historical programs, and concerts of patriotic songs. Instead, HRT pays far more attention to the communist May 1st than to the most important day in modern Croatian history.
"The people pay the license fee to watch reruns of foreign soap operas and irrelevant summer programming on the biggest national holiday, while real heroes are pushed to the margins," the column states. Pavković particularly notes that on August 4, 2026, in the studio of television N1, historian Hrvoje Klasić was a guest throughout the ceremony in Knin, commenting on events, which the author finds offensive given the half a million Croatian veterans.
The column also calls out local authorities across Croatia who laid wreaths and lit candles two or three days before the actual holiday, just so local politicians could head off for an extended weekend or vacation without interruption. This administrative coldness insults the dignity of the sacrifice, while massive events are organized for May 1st on the very day of the holiday.
Clear problems have also been noticed in the official music schedule. Pavković demands an end to the imposition of singers and bands who neutrally sing about "my country" or "this region" in their lyrics, emphasizing that in Knin, one must sing about Croatia clearly and proudly, with performers who are not ashamed to loudly speak the name of the state for which blood was shed.
