Marking the anniversary of Operation Storm, the Association states that the relationship between Bihać and Croatia was mutual and that the contribution of the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina must not be erased.
The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide responded on August 5, 2026, to the commemoration of the anniversary of Operation Storm, asserting that Croatia annually promotes an image of the operation as a move by which "the Croatian Army saved Bihać." In a text titled "Geography of Debts, but Selective Memory Short: Who Saved Whom at the Gate of Krajina?" they emphasized that the relationship between the Bihać District and Croatia from 1991 to 1995 functioned on mutual benefit and a shared desire for survival, not on one-way rescue.
As the Association notes, the chronology does not begin on August 4, 1995, but much earlier, while the JNA and rebel Serb units were striking Croatian territory. During that period, the Bihać District, according to their claims, opened its doors to tens of thousands of civilians from Slunj, Rakovica, and Plitvice, providing them with shelter, food, and medical care in Bihać, Cazin, and Velika Kladuša.
In addition to civilians, members of the Croatian Army and the Croatian Ministry of the Interior were received, cared for, and extracted from encirclement through that area. The Association estimates that Croatia would have faced an even more intense military assault had Bosnia and Herzegovina not rejected the possibility of remaining in a "truncated Yugoslavia" at that time.
The statement emphasizes that Bihać did not survive solely due to external intervention, but primarily thanks to the engagement of the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Bihać did not fall during three years of superhuman pressures because it was defended and liberated by the Fifth Corps of the ARBiH under the command of General Atif Dudaković, together with the local HVO," the document states.
As they explained, in August 1995, the forces of the Fifth Corps simultaneously launched a counteroffensive, captured significant enemy forces, and advanced toward the border with Croatia. Therefore, the lifting of the siege of Bihać, in their view, was not a "rescue of the helpless," but a coordinated action of two partners.
The Association emphasizes that the liberation of Bihać was not pure altruism for Croatia, but also a vital strategic goal. The potential fall of Bihać, they explain, would have connected the Army of Republika Srpska and the Army of Republika Srpska Krajina across a wide front, creating a long and nearly indefensible line for Croatia.
"The survival of Bihać was the wedge that kept the Serb forces separated and allowed 'Storm' to last only a few days, instead of several months or years," the statement reads.
In conclusion, the Association states that it does not deny Croatia's role in lifting the siege, but at the same time, it does not agree to the erasure of the Fifth Corps' merits and the support that Krajina provided to Croatia since 1991.
"We respect and do not deny your participation in lifting the siege. But we do not allow the erasure of the Fifth Corps and the silencing of 1991 to turn our three years of blood and pride into someone else's political small change," the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide announced.
Finally, they concluded that Krajina defended itself with its own forces, and Croatia had a partner in it without which, in their estimation, even Croatia's current freedom would not have been achievable.
