Veterans' associations and HMDCDR director Ante Nazor expressed concern on Tuesday that the fan parade in Knin was held without the official state flag, highlighting the HOS and downplaying the role of other units, and condemned the raising of the right hand and the glorification of totalitarian regimes.
The statement, signed by the Association of Veterans of Croatian Guard Units, the Association of Special Police from the Homeland War, and the director of the Croatian Memorial and Documentation Center of the Homeland War (HMDCDR), Ante Nazor, states that they support the unity of fan groups that paid tribute to the military-police operation "Storm" on August 5th.
However, they point out that they were "deeply saddened and concerned" that the parade was not led by the national flag that was raised on the Knin fortress on August 5, 1995, nor by the insignia of the 4th and 7th Guards Brigades and other units of the HV, HVO and special police that participated in the liberation of the city.
Instead, at the head of the column was the flag of the Croatian People's Army (HOS), which they say has been promoted in recent years among some of the public disproportionately to its role in the Homeland War. "Just as there is no basis for denying the participation of the Croatian People's Army (HOS) units in the defense of Croatia, there is no reason to exaggerate their role," the statement notes.
Unfounded favoritism of one unit, the signatories warn, can cause deep social divisions and have "catastrophic consequences for the future of Croatia." They also condemned the raising of the right hand and the glorification of totalitarian regimes, saying that "there is nothing human about that."
They emphasize that they do not renounce any Croatian unit that honorably participated in the Homeland War and oppose the ban on the insignia of any of them, but they say that commemorations of war events must remain within the framework of democratic and libertarian values, with the national flag as the central symbol of victory and freedom.
"Croatian freedom, democracy and international recognition were not won by the Ustasha or communist regimes, but by the victorious 'Storm' and the democratic forces of the Republic of Croatia," they emphasize in the statement. They called on the organizers of future fan parades to cooperate in order to prevent, as they emphasize, further falsification of history and ensure a dignified commemoration of Croatia's greatest military victory.
Photo: HINA/Mario Strmotić
