storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

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To Croatian citizens of Serbian nationality from the occupied areas
of Knin, Gračac, Lapac, Korenica, Slunj,
Glina, Dvor and Petrinja,
Whereas all past attempts, including yesterday’s negotiations in Geneva, between the
Croatian authorities and the international communities concerning the peaceful reintegration of
the occupied Croatian areas have failed;
Whereas the instigators of the rebellion in Croatia, Martić and others, instead of
responding to the call for peaceful reintegration, continue to wage war against the Croatian State
and, together with the leaders of the rebellion in Bosnia, Karadžić and others, devise new plans for
the joint conquest of the Bihać safe area, which Croatia cannot tolerate;
Whereas the Croatian and Bosnian Serbs not only prevent the return of refugees but also continue
to persecute the non-Serbian population;
Whereas the Serbian extremists, from the very beginnings of the rebellion to this very
day, appeal for help to the remnants of Italian fascism, off ering a division of Croatian territory
between Italian and Serbian imperialism;
Whereas unrestrained paramilitary Serbian units still engage in terrorist attacks on the
civil population from Slavonia to Dalmatia, shell Croatian regions and the towns of Otočac, Gospić
and Karlovac, and even while conducting in Geneva political talks about peaceful reintegration
continue to shell Dubrovnik causing new casualties;
And whereas all the attempts of the Croatian State and of the international community
to restore in a peaceful way the seized parts of Croatian territory under Croatian sovereignty
have been rejected and thwarted, the Croatian State is forced to take military-police steps for the
reintegration of these occupied areas into its constitutional and legal system.
We are forced to such a decision in order to put an end, aft er four years of futile
negotiations, to the outmanoeuvring of the Croatian and international public, and in order to
ensure the start of displaced person return to their homes.