Parade marking 30th anniversary of military/police operation Storm (Photo gallery)

Croatia marked the 30th anniversary of the military-police operation "Storm" on Thursday with a ceremonial military parade along Vukovar Street in Zagreb. Operation Storm liberated Knin and most of the previously occupied territory that had been occupied by rebel Serbs and members of the Yugoslav Army during the Homeland War. 

The ceremony began at 5 p.m. with the intonation of the National Anthem and a moment of silence for the fallen from the Homeland War, after which veterans handed over a giant Croatian flag to cadets, symbolically handing over responsibility for defense and security of the country to the next generation. Then the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Colonel General Tihomir Kundid gave the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Zoran Milanović a report.

“Mr. President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the parade marking the Day of Homeland Gratitude, Croatian Veterans Day, and the 30th anniversary of the military police operation Storm is prepared. I ask for you approval to begin the parade. Report made by Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid,” he said.

President Milanović then approved the start of the military parade with the command "Let the parade begin!"

The military parade moved along Vukovar Street from Marin Držić Avenue to Savska Street on a route 2.4 kilometers long. The infantry formation consisted of 24 echelons, and when all of them stand in their own echelons, the length of the procession was about 1,800 meters.

In addition to the Armed Forces, participating in the parade were members of the Interior Ministry, the Civil Protection Directorate, the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, the Judicial Police, the Croatian Firefighters' Union, Croatian veterans and historical units.

For the first time, members of the armed forces from eight countries also participated. Members of foreign forces carried the flags of their own countries in the procession.

When the motorized and mechanized formations with more than 500 combat and non-combat vehicles are added up, a total of more than 3,400 members of the aforementioned units took part in the parade.

41 aircraft from the Croatian Air Force and six helicopters from the Interior Ministry participated in the parade's flight program. The Croatian Air Force "Wings of the Storm" aerobatic group took part with Pilatus PC-9M aircraft, and the recently acquired Rafale multi-role combat aircraft flew over Vukovar Street.

A Croatian Navy parade titled "Greetings from the Adriatic" was held in the Šolta waters. The parade consisted of four missile gunboats, two landing ships, four patrol boats and four large rubber boats, on which 211 members of the Croatian Navy were engaged.

As part of the parade, citizens had the opportunity to see a display of new weapons and modern military equipment, such as the Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicle, the Leopard tank and FPV drones, which will present technological progress and the continuous strengthening of the defense capabilities of the Croatian Army.

The ceremonial military parade also featured a rich cultural and artistic program with the top state leadership in attendance.

Source: HRT