Since joining the European Union more than twelve years ago, Croatia has always tried to maintain its image as a ready-to-cooperate and problem-free partner. In the field of foreign policy, the country shared the common line: unlike neighboring Hungary, it has unreservedly supported all EU sanctions against Russia and played a constructive role in efforts to join the Western Balkan countries to the Community.
In domestic politics, everything also seemed to be in order: Croatia has been recording slow but steady growth and has been governed for years by a coalition led by the Christian democratic party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) headed by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković - now in his third term. Although some call him a "servant of Brussels", he is considered liberal and at the same time accommodates conservative forces in the party and society.
This also affected the situation of national minorities, especially the largest - the Serbian one. Although right-wing nationalists were happy to use Serbs in Croatia as a target, the party of the Serbian minority - the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS) - was for years an important coalition partner of Plenkovic, and anti-Serbian outbursts remained mostly a peripheral social phenomenon.
The turning point - the Perković concert
This changed in the summer. The key moment came on July 5 in Zagreb, when a large open-air concert by the Croatian rock singer Marko Perković, nicknamed "Thompson" - from the machine gun he used as a fighter during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995).
Perković is known for his songs imbued with national pathos and his attempt to present the Ustasha, the Croatian fascists of World War II, as a heroic part of the national identity. Historical revisionism is part of his standard repertoire. One of his biggest hits begins with "Za dom spremni!" ("Ready for the homeland!") - the Croatian equivalent of the Hitler salute. Because of this, many of his concerts in the past have been canceled - both in Croatia itself and in other European countries.
Fascist salute to the masses
On July 5, the mega-concert in Zagreb was attended by about 500,000 people - given that the entire population of Croatia is about 3.8 million. Before and during the concert, prohibited symbols of the Ustasa were displayed without hindrance and corresponding slogans were raised. The police present did not react.
The country's political elite gave the concert an almost official character: the day before the event, Prime Minister Plenkovic came to the rehearsal to take pictures with his children and with "Thompson". Several of his ministers and MPs boasted that they had attended the historic concert.
It became something of a starting signal for the far-right forces, which have since tried to completely dominate both political and public life in Croatia, Croatian writer and publicist Jurica Pavićić told DV. "There were a lot of people and a lot of neo-Nazi symbolism. The then moderately conservative government knelt down in front of this crowd. The ruling Croatian Democratic Union tried to protect its right wing so as not to lose votes there. And so the fire got out of control," explains Pavićić.
Onslaught of right-wing radicals
There are many examples. During the summer, there were several actions by veterans' organizations aimed at preventing cultural festivals in various cities, which they considered too liberal.
The Serbian minority has become the focus of the far right. In early November, in Split, members of the fan club "Torsida", ultras of the football club "Hajduk Split", dressed in black, used violence to prevent the Days of Serbian Culture. During their action, the ultras shouted fascist slogans and insulted Serbs, calling them "scum".
On November 7 in Zagreb, several dozen masked hooligans tried to prevent the opening of an exhibition at the Serbian Cultural Center, but the police dispersed them. And in this case, the Ustasha slogan "Ready for the homeland!" was chanted en masse, along with insults and threats against Serbs.
Two days later, near a sports hall in Rijeka, police at the last moment stopped an attack by hooligans with batons against Serbian children participating in a competition there.
Plenkovic is under pressure
The authorities have reacted rather restrainedly to these and other similar incidents. Although Prime Minister Plenković condemned them "in the strongest terms" and stressed that "there is no place in Croatian society for intolerance towards national minorities", he rejected accusations that his government tolerates revisionism or tolerates the ideology of the Ustasha.
Vesna Terselić, director of the non-governmental organization "Documenta - Center for Rethinking the Past", however, believes that the responsibility for creating this climate of aggression and xenophobia lies with some of the highest state representatives, which is evident from their behavior in politics and society.
"It is sad to observe how the space for freedom is narrowing in Croatia. Croatia has not overcome its past, and the institutions are currently unable (I wonder if they even want to) to guarantee everyone living in the country a space of freedom, of free expression of opinions, of creativity, as well as freedom of the media and science," Terselić told DV.
She adds that a process of relativizing the past and symbols of the Ustasha has long been underway in Croatia, but this latest phase is the most problematic. "I see the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister in this."
Violence is not excluded
The writer and publicist Jurica Pavićić interprets this trend in Croatia as part of the general rightward turn in Europe. The Prime Minister's responsibility lies primarily in inaction. "It's a combination of opportunism, cowardice and the feeling that the entire political dynamic has shifted to the right."
So far, the newly strengthened right has shown its intolerance mainly through threats, according to Pavicic. But there is an atmosphere of aggression in the air. In this regard, the writer says that he would not be surprised if it comes to open acts of violence.
Author: Zoran Arbutina