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ordered the Flight/; Večernje novosti, 23 August 1995; “Odluku o evakuaciji doneo Martić”/
Martić Ordered the Evacuation/; Politika, 23 August 1995), it seems that everybody
already knew clearly that the leadership of the so-called RSK was responsible for the
evacuation and tribulation of the Serbs in Croatia. A comment from the Serbian press
is maybe the most appropriate confi rmation of this evaluation: “Th e fl ight from Krajina
has a clear identifying code... by adopting the policy set at Pale, the entire RSK leadership,
including the President of the Republic, the Government and the military leadership failed
their history test and are exclusively responsible for the fate of 200,000 Serbs from the
western part of Krajina (Radovan Kovačević, Ko je doneo odluku o evakuaciji RSK?/
Who Decided to Evacuate the RSK?/; Politika, 27 August 1995.)
Vuk Drašković, at the time the leader of the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement,
also sought the culprits “in his own back yard” by emphasizing the narrow-mindedness
of the Serbs and their determination in the implementation of the decision according
to which all Serbs had to live in one state. His answer to the reporter’s decision on the
“blame for the fall of Krajina and the fate of the Serbian population in the region” clearly
shows why the Serbian people experienced tragedy in Croatia and who was responsible
for it: For years people in Serbia have been shouting that Krajina will never think of living
anywhere else except in Greater Serbia. Th is unreality is so powerful that it has entered the
consciousness and unconsciousness of quite a few people. Th ose that fed the people such a
dangerous illusion are to be blamed. On the other hand we, who had a diff erent view, were
unable to explain to the people that they were being grossly deluded. We did not tell our
people in time what lay in store, and we are guilty. (Gurat ću na svaka vrata”/I’ll Push any
Door/; Vreme, 21 August 1995).
Th e Serbian press also described the circumstances in which evacuation was decided
and the way in which the population was informed about it. Th us, according to the
report of Milorad Bošnjak, journalist assigned to the “State Information Pool of the
RSK” (since 10 June 1993), on 4 August 1995, at about 12 o’clock noon, in the Army
Hall in Knin the commander of UN forces in Sector South Alain Forand met with the
military and political offi cials of the so-called RSK (“Colonel Kosta Novaković - assistant
SVK commander, Colonel Milan Trgovčić - head of the SVK military negotiating team,
Mladen Kalapać - liaison offi cer with UNPROFOR, and Sava Štrbac - Secretary of the
Government”); “at the same time, the Supreme RSK Defence Council was in permanent
session; its members were RSK President Milan Martić, Prime Minister Milan Babić (then
in Belgrade), SVK Commander Mile Mrkšić, Minister of the Interior Tošo Pajić (then
in Kordun) and Defence Minister Milan Šuput (then in Korenica)”. At about 7 p.m., the
account continues, Colonel Novaković informed the reporters about the order according
to which the VSK General Staff and government institutions would be evacuated to the
small town of Srb in Lika and added that, in accordance with the agreement between
Colonel Novaković and the press, it was decided that civil protection runners would
inform the population because “they did not want the Croats to hear the explanation of
the order on Radio Knin”. Th e reporter also quoted part of the explanation of the order:
Th e evacuation is carried out for preventive security reasons. Th e fi ghters on the front will
also be relieved knowing that their loved ones are safe in Srb and Donji Lapac (Milorad
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