Bishop Atanasije Rakita said he was dumbfounded when he heard priests saying that Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, acquitted of crimes committed during the operation by the Hague war crimes tribunal on Friday, "followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ."
He said those "who can celebrate Operation Storm can also repeat it," Belgrade's media reported.
The president of the Association of Croatian Serb Refugees, Milojko Budimir, told Beta news agency before the service the acquittal of Gotovina and Markac "won't contribute to reconciliation and normalisation of relations with Croatia."
"The position of the Serbs who have stayed in Croatia can deteriorate now," he said, adding that they were acquitted so that Croatia "can join the EU clean" and that the acquittal "has disappointed Serbia and Serbs, distancing them from the road to the EU."
No Serbian official attended the service other than Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas.
"Without a clear answer as to who is to blame for those unfortunate people, there is neither development for this region nor genuine reconciliation," he told reporters after the service.