"The incumbent government is celebrating 'Storm' in its own way and we have the right to celebrate it in our own way," Domazet said at a panel discussion dedicated to the 1995 operation, organised by the coordinating body of county disabled war veterans' associations.
Domazet said he had been invited to attend the August 5 ceremony in Knin, adding that he would not attend it officially.
"It would be immoral of me to stand before the president of the state in an admiral's uniform," Domazet said, adding that President Stjepan Mesic testified in a 1998 trial of a Croatian general before the Hague war crimes tribunal as a protected witness for the prosecution, at the time when Domazet was an expert witness for the defence.
"A person who claims that everybody should apologise to everybody, that Operation 'Maslenica' was unnecessary, that (former President Franjo) Tudjman isolated Croatia and the Croats from the Serbs, and that it was Croatia and the Croats rather than the international community or the Serbs that started the war, cannot be the supreme commander," Domazet said.
Other participants in the discussion, including retired army general Miljenko Crnjac, historian Josip Jurcevic, humanist Slobodan Lang, and journalist Mladen Pavkovic were agreed that "Storm" was a legitimate defence and liberation operation that put an end to war operations in the region.
Both Domazet and Crnjac said the operation was secret and was planned without foreign assistance.
Crnjac admitted that many omissions were made in organising the operation, but that it was carried out professionally considering available forces.
The participants also agreed that the public perception of Operation "Storm" today was extremely negative and that the media had significantly contributed to it.