AUGUST 4 — DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR ALL SERBS WHO SUFFERED AND WERE FORCIBLY DISPLACED

05. Aug 2026.
Today, with profound respect and reverence, we remember all innocent victims and more than two hundred thousand Serbs who were forcibly displaced from their homes and ancestral lands in Croatia during and in the aftermath of the military operation Operation Storm in August 1995.

Behind historical dates and statistics lie human lives — those who were killed or remain missing, columns of refugees, families who lost their homes overnight, elderly people who refused to abandon their hearths, and generations who continue to carry the memory of their lost homeland.

Their suffering must never be forgotten.Their sacrifice deserves our enduring remembrance, our prayers, and our deepest respect.

Thirty-one years later, it remains our duty to uphold truth, justice, the culture of remembrance, and the dignity of every innocent victim—not by deepening hatred among peoples, but by building peace founded on truth and mutual respect.

Reconciliation is possible only when it is based on an honest acknowledgment of the suffering of innocent people and on respect for the right of every nation to remember its victims.

As the Consul General of the Republic of Serbia in New York, today I extend my special thoughts and respect to the Serbs from Krajina who, after being forced from their homes, found a new home in the United States, yet preserved in their families, their faith, their traditions, and their hearts the memory of Krajina and their ancestral hearths.

We remember—not to foster hatred, but to ensure that such suffering is never repeated to anyone, anywhere.

May the memory of all innocent victims be eternal, and may they rest in everlasting peace.

"We remember—we forgive, but we do not forget."

Ambassador Vladimir Božović, PhD

Consul General of the Republic of Serbia in New York