THE OPPOSITION Homeland Movement party, led by Miroslav Skoro, said on Tuesday that its delegation, during a visit to Knin on August 5 for the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm, would not attend the official ceremony.

The party said one of the reasons why it would not attend the official ceremony was the fact that President Zoran Milanovic does not want units of the wartime Croatian Defence Force (HOS) to be part of the official protocol, and that one of Homeland Movement members of parliament was HOS general Ante Prkacin, who, it said, would be insulted by the party's attendance at the ceremony.

The Homeland Movement said it wanted to "celebrate the victory with the people" while the area where the official ceremony would be taking place would be cordoned off.

The party also said that statements by the HDZ and its coalition partner the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) ahead of the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm put emphasis on individual negative experiences of representatives of one part of the Serb minority, instead of on those who took part in the 1995 military operation.

"Instead of celebrating the magificent victory, the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm has turned into a political show by Plenkovic and Milanovic aimed at promoting the Croat-Serb coalition that is based on trade-offs. The Homeland Movement refuses to give legitimacy to what should have been a celebration of the Croatian victory and has been turned into a commemoration for the Serb victims. We respect all victims, but on the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm, guilt cannot be equated and the aggressor cannot be turned into the victim," the party said.