Pupovac and Šimpraga Again Moralize About Operation Storm
While MPs Seek Flaws in the Official Celebration in Knin, They Have Not Distanced Themselves from a Guest Who Calls Operation Storm the Largest Ethnic Cleansing in Europe Since World War II.
While MPs Seek Flaws in the Official Celebration in Knin, They Have Not Distanced Themselves from a Guest Who Calls Operation Storm the Largest Ethnic Cleansing in Europe Since World War II.
This year's commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm shook MPs Milorad Pupovac and Anja Šimpraga more than in previous years. Line by line, they dispense "moral lessons" to the entire public, while Pupovac persistently tries to attach unofficial events to the official state commemoration, writes Dario Zurovec for Crodex.net.
The ceremonial event in Knin was held with appropriate dignity and a triumphant tone, befitting one of the key moments in modern Croatian history. It was a manifestation of pride, independence, and gratitude towards those who achieved that independence. However, while some seek scandal where there is none, Pupovac and Šimpraga selectively choose when to speak and when to remain silent.
Pupovac claims he is taking a risk with this criticism, but he does not specify what kind. A greater challenge, as it turned out, was asking Šimpraga to jointly, unequivocally, and without any exceptions distance herself from the statements of Draško Stanivuković. In her presence, he mentioned the so-called criminal Republic of Serbian Krajina.
None of these moves were realized. Pupovac issued a general statement without concrete condemnation, while Šimpraga chose to remain silent when it came to events from the 1990s. She was silent then, and yesterday she loudly moralized about the role of the Republic of Croatia in Operation Storm.
"Let us remind the public: MP Šimpraga sat in the front row at the Saint Sava Academy in Gračac, where Stanivuković, as a guest, questioned the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia and openly invoked the Serbian Krajina, and then gave joint statements to the media with him," writes Zurovec.
This is the same Stanivuković who describes Operation Storm as the largest ethnic cleansing in Europe since the end of World War II. To date, neither Šimpraga nor Pupovac have clearly rejected these claims.
Zurovec invites Pupovac to personally come to Knin next year for the anniversary of Operation Storm, instead of subsequently seeking flaws. "Croatia is also his homeland, and he is a representative in the Croatian Parliament. His place is with us in Knin to celebrate freedom together at the anniversary of Operation Storm," the author urges.
In a democratic order, silence is not neutral; it is a choice, even when presented as restraint. "The true measure of one's righteousness is not shown at a moment when condemnation is cheap and safe, but at a moment when it costs something but also means something," Zurovec emphasizes. "With them, it seems, silence comes selectively, depending on whose history is in question."
"Pupovac and Šimpraga evidently find it easier to try to cast a stain on the dignified official commemoration of Operation Storm than to condemn Stanivuković and distance themselves from his views on the criminal so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina, from which Operation Storm liberated us," Zurovec concludes.
