The Croatian Navy orchestra played the national anthem, with church bells tolling in memory of the arrival of the Croatian army in Knin during the 1995 operation.
The flag-hoisting ceremony was followed by the unveiling of a plaque commemorating inmates of Serb-run concentration camps. War Veterans Minister Jadranka Kosor and a prison inmate who survived imprisonment in the Knin fortress unveiled the plaque in the presence of President Stjepan Mesic, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks and other state officials.
The ceremony also included Croatian Air Force MIG planes flying over the Knin fortress.
Answering a reporter's question, President Mesic said that Operation Storm was a message to entire Europe, adding that Europe would be at war if there had been no Operation Storm. Commenting on statements about Plan Z-4, Mesic said "as for us, everything is completed 'from A to Z'".
"We know only of the Croatian Constitution," Mesic added.
PM Sanader said that Croatia dismissed all interpretations of Operation Storm by the Serbian media, adding that "it was not Nis, but Vukovar and Dubrovnik that were destroyed in the Homeland War. Croatian soldiers did not go to Serbia, it was Serbian soldiers who came to Croatia to conquer."
"But this will not harm the normalisation of relations between Croatia and Serbia, we offer our hand to Serbia and move on," he added.
After the Croatian flag was hoisted on the Knin fortress, President Mesic, PM Sanader, Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks and all government ministers attended a service for the homeland, conducted by friar Zeljko Topic.
Sabor Speaker Seks, War Veterans Minister Kosor and Science Minister Dragan Primorac today also attended the opening of a Karst cattle raising centre, which is part of the "Marko Marulic" college in Knin.
The town also saw a parade of war veterans that was organised by the association of war veterans and widows from the Koprivnica company "Podravka" and the First Croatian Policeman association from Sibenik-Knin County.
The veterans marched through the town to the fortress, where they laid wreaths for all soldiers killed in the war.
The association of war veterans from Koprivnica and members of the Croatian Generals Corps today presented a scroll of honour to Eva Segaric, a woman from the village of Skabrnja who lost her husband and three sons in the war. A scroll of honour was also given to the local authorities.
The celebration of the 11th anniversary of Operation Storm and Victory Day continued with fairs, with local residents and their guests enjoying free meals in the main town square. The celebrations end this evening with a concert featuring pop singers.
The events in and around Knin were covered by a crew from Radio-Television Republika Srpska, led by reporter Slavisa Stazic, who told Hina that he had also visited Skabrnja and that a program on Knin and Skabrnja would be aired on that TV station next Thursday.