"The state committee in charge of organising the celebration of Storm's anniversary has invited all the retired generals, namely all 81 of them, and all commanders of the units that took part in Storm. The statement that some of them have not been invited is not correct. All of them have been invited and I expect them in Knin, but it is up to them to decide whether they will come or not," Roncevic told a news conference in the coastal city of Split on Tuesday.
On Monday retired Croatian generals and officers gathered in the association "Viribus unitis" said that "the war-time army commanders and members of the victorious army do not want to take part in the event marking the tenth anniversary of Operation Storm" to be held under the auspices of the state leadership in the southern town of Knin on August 5, and that they would organise a parallel celebration. Speaking at a news conference in Split, General Ljubo Cesic Rojs said the Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces Main Staff had drawn up their own a list of officers to be invited to the event, leaving out most of the war-time commanders.
Asked by reporters why he would not lay a wreath at the grave of the war-time defence minister, Gojko Susak, during the forthcoming celebration of the 10th anniversary of Operation Storm, Minister Roncevic said that the state committee had defined the protocol which included a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of the first Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.
"We do not expect any incidents during the celebration of the operation's anniversary as Operation Storm is something which all Croatian citizens are proud of," Roncevic said in Split where he arrived to sign a contract with the local PCE company on the manufacturing, delivery and installment of state-of-art radio and telecommunications equipment for the army,