Serbia on Saturday marks Remembrance Day commemorating the persecution of Serbs during the Croatian military and police Operation Storm which the authorities in Belgrade describe as "a premeditated crime."

A religious ceremony will be held by Patriarch Irinej and the central commemoration, scheduled to be held on Saturday evening in Backa Palanka, is expected to be attended by the Serbian state leadership.

According to organisers, the event will be addressed by a witness from a refugee convoy. It will be attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, the president of the Bosnian Serb entity, Milorad Dodik, members of the Serbian government and parliament, as well as the parliament of the Bosnian Serb entity, members of the Serbian Army and Serb Orthodox Church dignitaries.

According to the Serbian media government, approximately 2,000 people had been killed or gone missing during and in the aftermath of Operation Storm. They also claim that more than 220,000 people had been expelled from Croatia.

At the same time, Croatia is marking August 5 as Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and War Veterans’ Day and commemorating the 23rd anniversary of Operation Storm, a military operation that the authorities in Zagreb describe as a victory in which the country regained control of most of its occupied territory. 

Different perceptions of the Storm operation have been a divisive factor in relations between the two countries since the mid-1990s. While Zagreb sees Storm as a military triumph, which liberated its territory from aggression, Belgrade views it as ethnic cleansing of Serbs.