Croatia defends Balkans war conduct

CROATIA:CROATIA HAS refused to apologise to Serbia for its conduct during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, as it marked the 13th anniversary of a counterattack that drove Belgrade's troops from Zagreb's territory and prompted 200,000 Serbs to flee their homes.

Tension rises annually between the Balkan neighbours during commemoration events for Operation Storm, which saw Croat troops take less than four days to reclaim one-fifth of the country's land from Serb forces.

Most Croats see Operation Storm as a campaign of self-defence that quashed Serb aggression and prompted Belgrade to sign a peace deal at Dayton in December 1995. Serbs however accuse Zagreb of failing to recognise atrocities committed by its forces during the operation and ask why the European Union - while looking favourably on Croatia's membership bid - is not pressing for the return of more Serb refugees to their homes.

"We shall not allow others to write the history of the Croatian homeland defence war," Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader said yesterday, adding that those who committed crimes in the wake of Operation Storm must be brought to justice.

"Croatia is proud of Operation Storm and we will not let anyone tarnish the magnificent victory of the Croatian army and people," Mr Sanader added.

Alongside him at a ceremony in the former Croatian-Serb stronghold of Knin, parliamentary speaker Luka Bebic called the 1995 campaign "independent, effective and just".

"Croatian military forces do not have anything to apologise for, having freed territory of their own state," he said. "Croatia would apologise for what it did on Serbia's territory - but we did not go to Serbia."

On the eve of the anniversary events, Serb president Boris Tadic pledged to push Croatian authorities to speed up the return of refugees and to establish the fate of those still missing - preconditions for EU entry which Zagreb hopes to achieve by 2010.

Mr Tadic urged Croatia's leaders to apologise to Serb refugees and relatives of civilians killed during the campaign and its aftermath.

Feelings are running high in Serbia following the capture of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic. Nationalists have called Mr Tadic a "traitor" for handing him over to the UN court at The Hague.