Croatian ultra-nationalist mega-gig exposes divided society

A “Neo-Fascist Croatian Woodstock” or Patriotic, anti-organization entertainment?

Last month, Marko Perkovic’s stage named Ultra nationalist singer Thompson significantly demonstrated the polarized episodes in the depths of Croatian society.

In the 1990s, the country’s struggle for independence and the two world wars Nazi puppet states, the Croatia Independent State (NDH) drew attention to different interpretations of different interpretations.

Nobody claimed that the concert was a very big thing. Thompson’s administration claimed that more than half a million tickets were sold for the demonstration in Zagreb Hippodrome. The real participation was quite low – but still hundreds of thousands.

This enormous crowd joined with enthusiasm when Thompson’s opening number started čavoglave battalion. “Za Dom” (for “homeland”) crying, the audience “spremn!” (“ready!”). MPs from the management HDZ party were among the chanting.

This divine, human rights and ethnic and regional reconciliation of the opposition parties and organizations that worked for. “Za Dom, Spreemi”, during the Second World War, the anti -Jewish, Nazi allied Ustasha organization, and Croatia’s Constitutional Court “Croatia’s independent state decided that a Ustasha salute. [which is] It is not in accordance with the Croatia Constitution “.

“This has opened Pandora’s box,” says Tena Banjeglav from Documenta – Both the Second World War, and the centered with the past, an organization that focuses on compromise by making a real approach to the new war of independence.

“Now politicians in Parliament ‘Za Dom, SPREMNI’ he shouts. Children on the streets are not only that song, but also other songs that glorify mass crimes in Thompson’s Second World War.” Says.

“The government creates an atmosphere when this is a positive thing. It creates a wave of nationalism that can explode physical violence.”

The government actually underestimated the hymn in the concert. Prime Minister Andrej Pkenkovic described it as “part of Thompson’s repertoire” and posed for a photo with the singer the day before the Zagreb concert.

Conservative commentator Matija štahan believes that Thompson served as a soldier during the war of independence gives him the right to use “Za Dom, SPREM” in his work.

Bir It is an authentic scream for freedom against aggression, or he says.

“Many journalists in the West say ‘Heil Hitler says there is a Croatian version – but it would be best to define it as a Croatian version [the Ukrainian national salute] ‘Slava Ukrai’.

“Both came to the forefront in the context of World War II – this was a war for many small nations who wanted their independent states.”

“Symbols change their meanings-and just like ‘Slava Ukra’, ‘Za Dom, SPREMNI’ means something different. Today, this anti-conscience nationalist slogan.

This interpretation does not cut ice with the youth initiative (YIHR) for human rights, which is a regional organization that works for reconciliation between young generations in the Western Balkans.

“This is clearly a fascist slogan,” says Mario Mažić, Yihr’s director in Croatia.

“As an EU member state, Croatia should be an example for the rest of the region, but it has not been interested in the past. He identifies with the losing party in the Second World War, and does not realize that he has carried out an unfair war in Bosnia and refuses to accept systematic crimes against the Serbs.”

At the beginning of August, Thompson organized another great demonstration in Krajina, the castle of Croatian Serbs during the war of independence. This performance was a part of Croatia’s 30th anniversary of the military war, which ended the War of Independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but also displaced hundreds of thousands of Serbs.

In recent years, the government has started to include commemoration ceremonies for Serbian victims. However, it is seen that compromise has a lower priority than encouraging nationalist emotion with a military parade, which is a demonstration of this year’s activities in Zagreb.

“All of this has been more visible since it has been leaving the European Union-because when it comes to anti-fascist values, protecting them cannot only be left to Germany.”

Mr. Jakovina believes that it is suitable for a government that does not respond to numerous challenges faced by contemporary Croatia.

“In the summer of 2025, we do not talk about our tourism, climate change, non -existent industry, our higher education, or problems with the upcoming demographic disaster,” he says.

“Instead, we’re talking about the military parade and two Thompson concerts.”