ZAGREB, March 31, 2019 – A wreath-laying ceremony was held in Plitvice Lakes National Park on Sunday to mark 28 years since the launch of Operation Plitvice and the death of police officer Josip Jović, the first defender of Croatia to be killed in the 1991-1995 Homeland War.
Apart from the Jović family, wreaths were laid by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, the parliament speaker’s representative Anđelko Stričak, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, Defence Minister Damir Krstičević, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mirko Šundov, national chief of police Nikola Milina and representatives of war veterans’ organisations.
Jović, 22, was killed and nine other police officers were wounded in a police operation after Serb insurgents occupied Plitvice Lakes National Park and blocked the D1 state road that connects the country’s north and south. Jović was a member of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit.
The operation was launched on the morning of 31 March 1991, Easter Sunday, and is also known as Bloody Easter. According to police reports after the operation, 29 Serb extremists were arrested and 18 were charged with armed rebellion, including Goran Hadžić, a member of the main committee of the Serb Democratic Party, and Borivoje Šavić, secretary of the executive committee of the party’s Vukovar branch.
Although the Croatian police regained control of the local police station, they had to withdraw later on and the area remained under rebel control until August 1995 when Operation Storm crushed the Serb insurgency.
Jović has been posthumously promoted to the rank of major and decorated with high state medals.
More news about Homeland War can be found in the Politics section.
