(30 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zagreb, Croatia – 30 July 2025
1. Military helicopters flying in distance, with Croatian flag in foreground
2. Street billboard advertising for military parade
3. People at parade rehearsal watching firefighting plane flyover
4. People sitting in the stands watching parade rehearsal
5. French-made Rafale fighter jets flying over
6. Political analyst Zarko Puhovski, walking
7. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zarko Puhovski, political analyst:
“The parade has very little to do with actual military capabilities. It’s just putting on a show, to put military equipment on display. And more so, Croatia is even acting like beggars who ask their friends to borrow them a nice watch to go on a date. Because there will be battle tanks on display which are not really in use by the army right now, and possibly never will. So, they feel they need to show off something, to entertain the crowd. And this will be spinned as Croatia’s effort to join the overall trend of increased militarization in Europe.”
8. Puhovski talking to reporter
9. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zarko Puhovski, political analyst:
“And there’s another motivation here, to show to our traditional rivals, almost seen as foes, east of Croatia, what we are made of, so to speak. But that’s really not necessary, because Croatia really did triumph over Serbia in 1995. And people on both sides know this, unless they have completely lost touch with reality. And this will not change anytime soon, because, due to the way global alliances are set up, our mutual relations and borders are virtually sealed forever.”
10. Attack helicopters flying in formation
11. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Stanko Sokol, pensioner:
“It’s good for people to see all the things we have in our arsenal. You never know. The devil never sleeps, as the saying goes. This is a nice opportunity for that, it’s the 30th anniversary, and it needs celebrating.”
12. Helicopters flying over
13. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Erik (last name unavailable), high school student from Zagreb:
“I’m looking forward to the parade. I think it will be a nice sight to behold, and also educational and interesting for us, airplane and helicopter enthusiasts.”
(Reporter: Anything in particular worth seeing?)
“Yeah, the Rafales, our fighter jets. And also helicopters.”
14. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zeljko (last name unavailable), retired bus driver and war veteran from Zagreb:
“I’m looking forward to seeing the weapons on display. Back then, we had nothing (to fight with). Today, we have something. Right?”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zagreb, Croatia – 29 July 2025
15. Soldiers marching in rehearsal, carrying Croatian-made rifles
16. Various of soldiers marching in parade rehearsal
STORYLINE:
Croatian military rehearsed on Wednesday ahead of their largest military parade in a decade marking the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm, which ended the 1991-95 war of independence.
The parade Thursday is set to feature some 3,400 soldiers and active service members from all branches of the armed forces, as well as police units, mountain rescue units, firefighters, and war veterans, along with some 40 aircraft.
The stars of the show are expected to be the German-made Leopard 2A6 battle tanks, about 50 of which Croatia had ordered from Germany in late 2024, as well as the recently acquired French-made Rafale jets and Turkish-made Bayraktar combat drones.
The offensive effectively ended Croatia’s four-year-long war of independence sparked by the breakup of Yugoslavia, and is celebrated in Croatia as an overwhelming triumph.
AP Video shot by Sasa Kavic
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