Croatia is suffocating in Ustaše ideology, while the state leadership lectures its neighbours on morality

By Haris Ljevo

While Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković are travelling around BiH and the world, warning of an alleged rise in extremism and tens of thousands of radical Islamists in BiH, fascism, right-wing rampages, and Ustaše ideology are flourishing in Croatia.

Instead of seriously addressing the problem of increasingly prevalent Ustaše ideology on Croatian streets, Plenković is meeting with right-wing representatives to negotiate the removal of a plaque bearing the Ustaše salute “Za dom spremni“ (Ready for the Homeland) in front of the former Ustaše camp in Jasenovac.

And while the Croatian president lectures BiH on how to resist “radical Islamic extremism“, her prime minister is negotiating with the heirs of the NDH tradition on how and in what way to remove the plaque with the Ustaše salute, without angering the Ustaše.

It is incomprehensible in the 21st century to discuss, let alone negotiate, matters that the civilized world renounced with disgust 72 years ago, having defeated and rejected fascism as the greatest evil in the world.

Zagreb recently decided to abolish Marshal Tito Square, named after the leader of one of the greatest anti-fascist movements in Europe during World War II. The Croatian state leadership is defending the singer of nationalist songs Marko Perković Thompson, whose concerts have been banned in many EU countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Slovenia. The US State Department, in its annual report on freedoms, warned of the rise of Ustaše ideology in Croatia...

All of these are clear indicators of the state Croatia is in today.

Right-wingers, without any sanctions, organize rallies in the middle of Zagreb where hatred towards national minorities, primarily Serbs, is vented, and where newspapers of the Serb national minority in Croatia are burned...

- I am used to tolerating the state's inaction. Attacks on my family, on institutions, and on places where members of the Serb community work. Because clearly, there is no peace for Serbs in Croatia - said Milorad Pupovac, a representative of the Serb minority in Croatia.

The best indicator of the state of today's Croatia is the departure of former Croatian Minister of Veterans' Affairs, Fred Matić. He stated that Croatia today is a different country from the one he fought for and that there is no longer a place for him to live in it.

A man who fought as a volunteer for Croatia today cannot live in it. Fred Matić, according to witnesses, destroyed eight JNA tanks in battles on Trpinjska Cesta, and was in many camps, but the Croatian right cannot forgive him because his wife's name is Svetlana and because, as Minister of Veterans' Affairs in an SDP government, he tried to deal with veterans who were extracting huge funds from the state budget for their own needs and for the benefit of the HDZ.

Such is today's Croatia, whose highest state representatives are lecturing BiH on morality.