Naša stranka on Čović's meeting with Thompson, but they forgot about Vukoja: There is no neutrality towards fascism

(Patria) - Naša stranka has commented on the meeting between HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović and controversial Croatian singer Marko Perković Thompson. However, in their entire statement, they forgot the name of Marin Vukoja, a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH, who attended the concert in Široki Brijeg. Vukoja was elected to the Constitutional Court of BiH in May 2024 by the House of Representatives with votes from Naša stranka.

"After a series of neo-Ustasha vampire balls, i.e., Thompson's concerts, the last of which was in Široki Brijeg, Thompson was also hosted by Dragan Čović. Almost a hundred years after the fascists came to power in parts of Europe, Dragan Čović hosted a man who is a symbol of fascist calls," the statement from Naša stranka reads.

As they add, this means that for Dragan Čović, it is still 1933.

"Or perhaps '93. But if it is for him, it is not in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Especially not in Mostar, a city that, like few others, suffered the consequences of fascist aspirations and still suffers them today through almost daily vandalism of anti-fascist monuments. We all know very well that this same Perković has been associated with fascist slogans for years, under which hundreds of thousands of people were killed in these areas during World War II," the statement adds.

The fascist Independent State of Croatia is responsible for the systematic persecution and murder of Serbs, Jews, Roma, and anti-fascists of all nationalities.

Historical estimates indicate that the Ustaše killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma, and political opponents of the regime regardless of their nationality. These are not abstract numbers; these are wiped-out communities. And today, the salute under which these people were killed is being relativized, aestheticized, and turned into part of stage folklore.

"And it's not just about World War II. During the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina, tens of thousands of people were killed, expelled, and tortured in the name of NDH aspirations with the slogans that Thompson celebrates. Ideologies that fed on myths of historical rights and ethnic purity once again produced camps, persecutions, and mass graves. In such a context, bringing in a person who persistently promotes Ustasha symbolism and presenting them as a symbol of European values is not just a provocation; it is a conscious push of society into an ideological trench," the statement adds.

They emphasize that it is clear that the world has become ideologically bipolar.

"On one side are anti-fascists who unequivocally state that fascism, Ustashism, and all their symbols are a civilizational evil. On the other side are those who not only relativize them but also normalize and celebrate them through political protection, public welcomes, and cultural promotion. In decades when Europe should be remembering its victory over the darkest ideology of the 20th century, we are once again dividing into those who defend the anti-fascist heritage and those who flirt with it and celebrate it," the statement emphasizes.

They stressed that they must be brutally clear: there is no neutrality towards fascism.

"There are no 'buts'. There are no cultural excuses. You are either on the side of anti-fascism and the dignity of the victims, or you are on the side of relativizing crimes. We most strongly condemn Čović's meeting, and this will not go without political consequences for HDZ," the statement from Naša stranka concludes.