Milorad Pupovac, leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and the main political representative of Serbs in Croatia, has denounced chants and slogans heard in the town of Knin during commemorations marking the 31st anniversary of Operation Storm, the 1995 Croatian military offensive that ended a rebel Serbian statelet and led to the exodus of around 200,000 Serbs from the country. At a press conference, Pupovac played recordings showing sports fans and army veterans singing songs glorifying the Ustasha — the military force of a Nazi-backed Croatian fascist puppet state during World War II — and chanting phrases referencing the blood of Serbs. He called the incidents a "serious attack on constitutional values and democracy" and criticised Croatian judicial authorities for failing to prosecute hate speech, warning that such impunity poses a direct threat to the Serb community and to the rule of law in Croatia.