Croatian Defence Minister Branko Vukelic holds that the cover of the latest issue of Novosti weekly, published by the Serb National Council, which shows a photo of two MiG jets with Croatian insignia and the caption "Both are down, both of them!", is an insult to all Croatian soldiers who fought in the Homeland Defence War and to all Croatian citizens.
Minister: Serb minority weekly's cover insult to all Croatian citizensCroatian Defence Minister Branko Vukelic holds that the cover of the latest issue of Novosti weekly, published by the Serb National Council, which shows a photo of two MiG jets with Croatian insignia and the caption "Both are down, both of them!", is an insult to all Croatian soldiers who fought in the Homeland Defence War and to all Croatian citizens.
Minister Vukelic told the national broadcaster's news programme on late Tuesday evening that it was unacceptable to draw parallels between the forces which had launched an aggression on Croatia and had been destroying the country and the Croatian Air Force that defended Croatia and is participating in many activities such as assistance in fire-fighting and emergency situations.
The shout "Both of them, both are down!" was uttered by a Croatian soldier near Sibenik on 21 September 1991 when two Yugoslav People's Army jets were shot down. This famous statement was used by the Novosti weekly in a comment on a recent accident when two Croatian military aircraft fell down.
Vukelic said the question should be raised why somebody was happy to see the crash of two Croatian airplanes.
