Saturday, August 05, 2006

Croatian president says Serbia must confront "damaging" past of Milosevic

Excerpt from report by Croatian radio on 5 August

[Newsreader] Today is Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day. Croatia celebrates this in remembrance of 5 August 1995 when the Croatian Army's Operation Storm liberated in just 84 hours the centre of the Greater Serbia uprising, Knin, and virtually one third of Croatian territory which had been occupied for five years. [Passage omitted]

[Reporter Vesna Jasek] The main event was the raising of the state flag on the Knin fortress watched by the heads of state, assembly and government, [President] Stipe Mesic, [Speaker] Vladimir Seks and [Prime Minister] Ivo Sanader, respectively. The historical fort was the place for marking the impeccably conducted Operation Storm which, as President Mesic said, ended the war in this area. Commenting on statements coming from Serbia in the past few days about the character of the military operation, Mesic said that Serbia must confront the past and turn to the future:

[President Stipe Mesic] They have to understand that Slobodan Milosevic's war plan was also damaging for the Serbian people and Serbia. The consequences are still being felt now. Montenegro has gone, you can see that the status of Kosovo is being established and they must take this into account.

[Passage omitted]

Source: Croatian Radio, Zagreb, in Croatian 1000 gmt 5 Aug 06

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