Serbian president uses the anniversary to kick off his election campaign and criticize Podgorica, while the opposition speaks of ethnic cleansing. Montenegro sends a representative to Knin but not to the commemoration in Mrkonjić Grad.
Ahead of the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm and Croatia's Victory Day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić seized the opportunity to sharply criticize Montenegro and launch his new election campaign. In a statement to RTS, Vučić accused official Podgorica of participating in the celebration of what he calls "crimes committed against Serbs."
The trigger for Vučić's reaction was the decision of Montenegro's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Ervin Ibrahimović, that the chargé d'affaires of Montenegro's Embassy in Zagreb will attend the commemoration in Knin tomorrow. At the same time, no one from the Montenegrin government will be at tonight's commemoration for the Serbs who perished in Mrkonjić Grad.
"The Government of Montenegro, official Montenegro, participates in the joy, in the celebration of crimes committed against Serbs, celebrates together with Croats, and the Government of Montenegro has sent no one to the commemoration, the memorial remembrance of the Serbs who perished in Mrkonjić Grad,"
Vučić said for RTS.
The Serbian president assessed that the decision of the Montenegrin government is only the beginning of similar moves in the future. He added that Serbs naively believed that in 2020 changes occurred that would bring a different attitude towards Serbia and the Serbian people.
"This is not the end, this is just the beginning of such decisions, and they will have many more such decisions in the future, and things will not change there. Serbs naively believed that in 2020 they brought changes that would mean a different attitude towards Serbia and the Serbian people. Things will get worse and worse, and that should not surprise us, but we must show even greater respect towards Republika Srpska, towards our people who need our support in Montenegro, who are desperate because of this,"
Vučić emphasized.
He announced that he will speak about many of these topics tonight in Mrkonjić Grad, where he chose the anniversary of Storm and Mrkonjić Grad for his new election campaign. He also mentioned "invented polycentrism" as an approach that enables such decisions. Vučić added that Serbia knows all the facts and that thanks to that, it can be better prepared for the political events that are coming.
On the same day, the president of the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), Dragan Đilas, stated that Operation Storm was "planned and organized systematic ethnic cleansing." In a statement, he noted that during that operation, more than 200,000 Serbs were expelled and more than 1,800 were killed, while 1,183 missing persons are still being sought. On the other hand, some sources, such as Kurir.rs, cite figures of more than 250,000 displaced and more than 2,000 killed and missing, indicating different interpretations of the scale of the suffering.
"During this crime, more than 200,000 Serbs were expelled and more than 1,800 were killed. Responsibility for these crimes lies not only with those who led the operation, but also with all who refuse to acknowledge them,"
Đilas said.
He emphasized that the anniversary must serve as a warning and an opportunity to understand the importance of reconciliation in the Western Balkans, as well as to work on punishing those responsible for the crimes of the 1990s.
"Without justice and sincere confrontation with the past by all, there is no lasting peace or a better future for everyone living in these areas,"
Đilas concluded.
The decision of the Montenegrin ministry sparked a wave of condemnation in part of the public and media. The portal Borba.me writes that the authorities in Podgorica continue "on the paths of shame and humiliation," while in Serbia and Republika Srpska, candles are lit with sorrow for the victims. Podgorica's Vijesti also criticizes the move of the current government, assessing that Montenegro's foreign policy is still conducted according to the dictates of those who ignore Serbian victims.
