At a joint session today, the governments of Serbia and the Republika Srpska made a decision to jointly commemorate 5 August as a day of remembrance for Serb war victims.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić commented on that decision. “The fact is that in the aftermath of the war which Slobodan Milošević waged against Croatia, many Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered as well. All wars cause casualties,” Pusić said.
“However, it was a war that was instigated by the then-Serbia. It was the war that claimed tens of thousands of victims among the Croatians, the Bosniaks and members of other peoples, and eventually among the Serbs. Every life lost is tragedy, and Milošević’s instigation of those wars is crime.
We too could be talking about large-scale Serb crimes committed against the Croatians and the Bosniaks, but we talk about crimes committed in the name of Milošević’s policy. The reason for such a position is the understanding that the present-day policy should make space for freedom, opportunities and openness towards the future of the coming generations. To further incite intolerance among the peoples is to not only repeat crimes of the past but pollute the future as well.
August 5, 1995 is the day when Croatia, which for four years had been cut up and occupied by Milošević’s army and militia, finally reintegrated its territory. This was the beginning of the end of the war and this is what Croatia is celebrating and what all should respect.
No one is celebrating the suffering of people, which is the aftermath of all wars, including the Croatian Homeland Defence War. All innocent victims of the wars on the territory of former Yugoslavia, which were instigated by Slobodan Milošević’s policy, deserve condolences and respect. However, Milošević’s criminal policy, which instigated the war, was definitely defeated and brought to an end in Croatia on 5 August 1995.”