ZAGREB, September 16, 2018 – Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader and Member of Parliament Milorad Pupovac declined on Saturday to comment on demands by war veterans that he state his position on the Homeland War and Operation Storm, announcing, however, that his response would come “soon”.
“As regards to our response to the developments in Vukovar, the issue of war crimes and the issue of minority rights – you will have it soon,” Pupovac told reporters briefly after attending a round table discussion organised by the GONG NGO in Zagreb.
Associations of war veterans have asked the SDSS leader, who is a partner in the HDZ-led coalition government, to state his position on Croatia’s 1991-95 Homeland War and the 1995 Operation Storm after he attended a commemoration in Bačka Palanka, Serbia for the victims of Operation Storm on August 5, and after Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić made statements at the event that were met with sharp criticism in Croatia.
The mayor of the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar, Ivan Penava, has announced for October 13 a protest against the lack of efficiency in the prosecution of war crimes, and the date of the protest coincides with sports games to be held in that town by the association of disabled war veterans HVIDRA.
Asked if he believed that veterans’ demands were a form of pressure against the Serb community, Pupovac said: “If you ask the Chinese, they will tell you that they are no under pressure.”
