Croatian Ambassador to Germany Gordan Bakota has said in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung daily on th occasion of the anniversary of the Croatian military and police Operation Storm that the operation gave the final blow to the Slobodan Milošević regime.

Operation Storm was not only a successful liberation operation which created important prerequisites for the integrity of Croatian territory, but it was also the operation that changed the balance of power and gave the final blow to the long-lasting Slobodan Milošević regime and his war conquests, Bakota told Berliner Zeitung.

At the same time, just a month after the genocide in Srebrenica, Operation Sturm helped create strategic conditions necessary for ending the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he added.

Bakota also said that unfortunately despite the clearly proclaimed policy of the Croatian government at the time, which called for local Serbs to stay and live together with Croatians, there were cases of isolated crimes committed against Serbian civilians.

The Croatian political leadership has repeatedly condemned these crimes and is committed to finding justice for all civilian victims, Bakota said and added that Croatia's incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković had stressed that on several occasions.

Asked about the reconciliation process, Bakota underscored efforts of Croatia's state leadership aimed at making reconciliation possible.

Last year, President Zoran Milanović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković took part in the commemoration held for Serb civilian victims in the villages of Varivode and Grubori, Bakota underlined.