Croatia: Post-War Reconciliation Rhetoric Sparks Cautious Optimism

In 2020, unlike in previous years, commemorations in Croatia dedicated to the events that happened during the 1990s war were conducted with the minimum of incidents and nationalist rhetoric.

In September, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, leader of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and representatives of the country's Serb minority commemorated the 25th anniversary of the killings of Serbs in the village of Varivode - one of several incidents that happened in the wake of the Croatian Army's Operation Storm, which saw the Croatian Army defeat rebel Serb forces and take back large amounts of territory.

The Varivode commemoration was the second memorial ceremony this year for Serbs killed in 1995 to be attended by senior Croatian officials, after President Zoran Milanovic and War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved took part in a commemoration of the anniversary of a massacre in the hamlet of Grubori in August.

Many observers welcomed these gestures as a step forward towards reconciliation and the normalisation of Croat-Serb relations in the country, which have continued to be deeply troubled over the 25 years since the conflict ended.

Earlier in August, Croatian leaders staged a ceremony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Croatia's victory in Operation Storm - the military action that heralded the end of the war, but also caused around 200,000 Serbs to flee the country. Around 600, mostly elderly Serb civilians were also killed during and after the operation.

Plenkovic told the ceremony that Operation Storm was Croatia's "greatest victory", but he also expressed sympathy for all the victims, "not only Croats but also Serbs".

"We remember with sadness the hundreds of thousands of refugees who were expelled from...

Continue reading on: