Croatia

The last parliamentary election victory enabled the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)  to form a government independently of the far-right Homeland Movement (DP). This enabled the creation of the center-right government, in which a representative of the Serbian minority is the deputy prime minister, who covers social affairs and human and minority rights. The government was trying to heal the wounds of the war, which ended in 1995. Croatian and Serbian representatives went together to commemorations on the occasion of the fall of Vukovar and Operation Storm, but also for the first time to mark the anniversary of the massacres of Serb civilians after Operation Storm.

The Far-Right of Croatia Mapped

Current Situation 

Introduction

Introduction

The last parliamentary election victory enabled the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)  to form a government independently of the far-right Homeland Movement (DP). This enabled the creation of the center-right government, in which a representative of the Serbian minority is the deputy prime minister, who covers social affairs and human and minority rights. The government was trying to heal the wounds of the war, which ended in 1995. Croatian and Serbian representatives went together to commemorations on the occasion of the fall of Vukovar and Operation Storm, but also for the first time to mark the anniversary of the massacres of Serb civilians after Operation Storm.

The far-right, which thrives on hatred against Serbs, took control of most of the most important commemorations, such as those in Škabrnja and Vukovar, and banned with threats the arrival of Serbian representatives. In Vukovar, where the mayor is also the leader of the DP, the last anniversary of the fall of the city was marked with a big parade led by fascist paramilitaries. That was a great victory for DP, the President, the Government, and representatives of the left parties walked behind the Ustasha symbols. At the march, Hitler was saluted, and songs were sung to Ustasha commanders Jure Francetić and Rafael Boban.

Croatia entered the eurozone in 2023 at the worst possible time. Inflation in Europe was then in full swing. Energy prices skyrocketed after the start of the war in Ukraine. And merchants took advantage of the opportunity and drastically raised the prices of groceries. Eurostat has noted that Croatian February 2024 inflation is the highest in the entire Eurozone, reaching 4.8 percent. Inflation reached 10.8% in 2022 and 8.4% in 2023. The government halted energy and fuel price growth by limiting maximum prices. The prices of 30 basic groceries are also limited.  

Croatia entered the Schengen borders of the EU, and Croatian border police are using violence to repel migrants trying to cross the external border of the European Union from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The far-right uses the issue of migrants to create an atmosphere of fear even though the migrants have not harmed anyone. They demand the deployment of the army at the border, while the bodies of unknown migrants are regularly found in the border rivers.

In 2023, 160,000 foreigners were living and working in Croatia. That is twice as many as in 2021. The foreign workers are mistreated and are often exploited by their employers. The far-right immediately found in them a new scapegoat to blame for all the problems. They actively encouraged hatred, legitimizing the space for mockery, humiliation, and even violence against, which resulted in a series of attacks against migrant workers.

 

In recent years, foreign policy has been marked by conflict between the Government and the President of the Republic, the co-creator of foreign policy, and the army’s supreme commander. The Prime minister and the President began their political careers as Ministry of Foreign Affairs diplomats in the 90s. But when it comes to the hottest topics at the moment, they constantly come into conflict. The President opposed the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia, and the Prime Minister wanted to offer the departure of the Croatian army to Ukraine. The Croatian ambassador to the UN voted against the cease-fire in Gaza without consulting the President, who also criticized the raising of the Israeli flag at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and entered into a conflict with the Israeli ambassador. While the government is doing everything according to the instructions from the EU and NATO, the President criticizes calls for Ukraine to join the NATO pact and attacks Ursula von der Leyen’s overstepping of authority during her visit to Israel.

Racist and intolerant hate speech in public discourse is escalating, with the main targets being Serbs, LGBT persons, Roma, foreign workers, and migrants. Politicians use inflammatory speech to fuel conflicts between different sections of the population, and this not only applies to extreme parties but the entire political spectrum.

Status of the far-right in the country

Status of the far-right in the country


Political periods in Croatia can be observed in two periods: when the HDZ is in power and when the HDZ wants to be in power. When the HDZ is not in power, attempts are made to destabilize the government’s true radicalization of the political scene through the “veto players,” who are, in the Croatian case, war veterans’ organizations and the Catholic Church.

When the HDZ came to power, it regularly renounced the burden of extremists, whose leaders were silenced by positions and grants. After Andrej Plenković took over the HDZ, he vowed to turn it into a modern conservative party, free from chauvinist rhetoric. Also, his last eight years in power would not have been possible without the parliamentary support of the Independent Democratic Serb Party, SDSS, a party that represents the Serb community in Croatia.

At the 2020 parliamentary elections, most of the far-right opposition to Plenković and the HDZ is united in the newly-formed Homeland Movement party, led by nationalist singer and former HDZ MP Miroslav Škoro.

Although they achieved a very good result for the new party, which had almost 11% of the vote and 16 members of parliament, they did not gain power and position. Therefore, immediately after the election, there was a division into two parliamentary clubs, the Sovereignists and the Homeland Movement. A few months later, two more MPs left the Homeland Movement. After a heated argument, its founder, Miroslav Škoro, left the party along with his sister.

In October 2021, Croatian Sovereignists (HS) held a party congress at which the far-right parties merged: Hrast, the Croatian Conservative Party, the alt-right Generation of Renewal, many members of the Independents for Croatia, and some from the Homeland Movement.

But soon, there was also a conflict, this time over the vaccination, when the most notable Sovereignists MP Hrvoje Zekanović publicly called on people to get vaccinated and criticized the far-right for being guilty of the small number of vaccinated. So he was kicked out of the party.

For the parliamentary elections in 2024, the far-right split into several coalitions, two of which are sure to enter Parliament. The strongest coalition is the Homeland Movement and the newly founded “Pravo i Pravda” party of two MEPs Vilibor Sinčić and Mislav Kolakušič. The second coalition is that of the once conservative Most and Croatian Sovereignists.

Status of antifascists in the country

Status of antifascists in the country

The activity of anti-fascists is at a very low level—their reduced activities surround occasional commemorations and press releases. Anti-fascist organizations are usually only heard after some of the remaining monuments to the victims of fascism and fallen fighters are destroyed and vandalized, or the local government simply removes them with the help of EU funds.

Anti-fascist activists and organizations are usually co-organizers of protests against ultra-conservative organizations and their marches and performances.

The new ultraconservative campaign “Catholic men kneeling with rosaries” on main city squares in Croatia has begun at the end of 2022 and continues every first Saturday of the month. Numerous counter-protests were organized by several feminist associations, the Workers’ Front, SDP, and youth associations in Zagreb, Šibenik and Rijeka. In Zagreb, MEP Predrag Fred Matić, who actively advocates for gender equality, also gave his support. 

As a response to the “Walk for Life,” a march against abortion organized by the right in an increasing number of Croatian cities, the “Walk for Freedom,” which promotes gender equality and freedom of choice, was organized on the same day in Rijeka.

The 22nd Pride Parade of the LGBTIQ community, individuals, and rainbow families was held in Zagreb under the slogan “Together for trans rights!”. The central theme of the procession was the response to the increasing transphobia, hate speech, discrimination, and violence directed towards trans people.

There are several groups of anti-fascists. Traditional associations of anti-fascists under the SABH, the successor of the SUBNOR (Partisan Veterans Association). They are less and less active, and their membership is old. There are new anti-fascist associations of Homeland War veterans trying to reconcile anti-fascist principles and the War of Independence. The Anti-Fascist League, which was on the line of liberal anti-fascism, is less and less active. Some informal antifascist organizations are publicly presented as feminist, anarchist, and some as eco-socialist.

The biggest risk for anti-fascists is poor work with young people and not passing on knowledge and experience to new generations.

Historic Developments

Historic developments

The far-right in Croatia is most often associated with the historical Ustashe movement; hence they have connections to Neo-Nazism and neo-fascism. The World War II political movement was an extremist organization at the time supported by the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists. The association with the Ustaše has been called “Neo-Ustashism.”

The central historical event for the extreme right is the establishment of the so-called NDH (World War II-era puppet state Independent State of Croatia), which is celebrated every year in various ways, for example, with the destruction of anti-fascist monuments.

The Ustasha genocide against Serbs, Roma, and Jews in the NDH is also a critical event. The denial of Ustasha’s crimes and the memorization of the Jasenovac death camp, which is constantly called the “Jasenovac myth” or “Jasenovac work camp,” regardless of the list of over 80,000 victims, is a constant obsession of the far right.

The surrender of the Ustashas to the Allies and the Yugoslav Army near Bleiburg (Austria) is also a critical victimological historical event. Due to the vengeful mass murders of captured fascist gangs after the surrender, the Ustashe presented themselves as fighters for independent Croatia and victims, and the Yugoslav partisans were demonized. Ustasha mythomania exaggerated the number of killed Ustashas to as many as half a million.

The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat operations in Croatia by 1992. In Croatia, the war is primarily referred to as the “Homeland War”.

Key events from this war are the Battle of Vukovar, during which the JNA completely destroyed the city and committed many mass crimes against prisoners and civilians, and Operation Storm, which liberated most of Croatia and expelled most Serbs from Croatia.

The Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) were the paramilitary arm of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992. They fought in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With its name, iconography, and war goals, HOS relied on the regime of the Independent State of Croatia and explicitly stated as its goal the effort to establish a Greater Croatia state, which should include Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of today’s Serbia (Sandžak, Srijem i Bačka) and Montenegro (Boka Kotorska). The iconography of HOS and the Ustasha salute “Za dom – spremni!” (For homeland – ready!), also used by HOS, are favorite symbols of the far-right in Croatia.

International relationships

International telationships

The Homeland Movement and the Croatian sovereignists in Croatia predominantly demonize the Serbian minority and flirt with the Ustasha movement. Abroad, their members have been working on much more refined work for a decade. Armed with inexhaustible sources of money, their comrades – fascists, neo-Nazis, and religious zealots – have metastasized into a serious political bloc. 

Several Croatian politicians and activists were for years members of the Agenda Europe group, a lobbying network composed of several hundred of the most powerful ultra-conservative organizations and political movements, linked to the American far-right and Russian propagandists, who from 2013 to 2019 jointly worked to undermine women’s and gay rights. Rights. One of the strategists and coordinators of the entire network was Željka Markić from the Croatian anti-LGBT association “In the Name of the Family.” After some media and organizations started writing about Agenda Europe in 2018, Željka Markić coordinated the rebranding and transfer of activities to the new Vision Network group. Three still active politicians were in the group: Ladislav Ilčić, MEP from the Croatian sovereignists, and parliamentarians Stjepo Bartulica and Marijana Petir.

In September 2023, one of the largest gatherings of the extreme right in Europe was held in Dubrovnik. At the three-day event, speeches were made by members of the Italian government from the ranks of Brothers of Italy, MEPs from the Spanish party Vox, Poles from Law and Justice, and numerous other representatives of the civil and political wing of ultra-right movements. Croatia was represented by Most’s current prime ministerial candidate, Nikola Grmoja, and their MP, Nino Raspudić. The host of the whole gathering was MEP Ladislav Ilčić from the Croatian sovereignists, Most’s coalition partners. The conference called “European Congress of the Family” was organized by the political club European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), which gathers all the parties mentioned above in Brussels. Their partner in realizing the Dubrovnik event was the International Organization for the Family, one of the most influential global networks in the field of ultraconservative activism, which, until the Russian aggression against Ukraine, was an important propaganda tool of the Putin regime in the West.

The organizers of the summit in Dubrovnik – the parties under the ECR umbrella and the International Organization for the Family – were directly or indirectly members of the Agenda Europe lobby network.

ECR is directly connected to the New Direction political foundation, which has become one of the key promoters of yesterday’s members of Agenda Europe events and goals. Marko Milanović Litre, MP of the Croatian Sovereignists, also sits in New Direction’s governing body. Last year alone, ECR and New Direction organized at least four conferences in Croatia.

Stjepo Bartulica, MP of the Homeland Movement, organized in Zagreb an international conference of ultra-conservatives, opponents of women’s and minority rights, and neoliberal extremists, and among his guests was Anna Lakó, international coordinator of the Hungarian Center for Fundamental Rights, an organization that systematically promotes Great Hungarian claims to the territory of Hungary’s neighbors and even to Croatia.

Representatives of the Acton Institute, a far-right American organization financed by oil corporations and the Koch brothers, ultraconservative billionaires, also spoke about the challenges of conservatism in Zagreb. In recent years, deniers of climate change, opponents of abortion, the welfare state, and similar topics have diverted millions to the initiatives of like-minded Europeans. They are part of the network of the Economic Research Foundation Atlas, an American libertarian organization that cooperates with more than 500 associations of the same ideological conviction.

Bartulica boasted on Twitter that he also hosted Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch far-right activist who has appeared on the Tucker Carlson Tonight program several times. She became known as an opponent of feminism, globalism, and immigration. In Croatia, she emphasized the need for “militant Christian conservatives.”

Ultraconservative campaign imported from Poland, “Catholic men kneeling with rosaries” on main city squares in Croatia, began at the end of 2022. Individuals associated with the Ordo Iuris Foundation, whose Polish version of the same name lobbied for an almost complete ban on abortion in that country, participate in the project. The organizers announced that they would pray “for the conversion of the Croatian people,” “for a life of premarital chastity, for chastity in dress and behavior, for the renewal of Catholic marriages,” “for the end of abortion,” and for “men,” with the desire to “become spiritual authorities in the family who will bravely witness and transmit the Catholic Church.” They announced, again following the example of Poland, that they would hold kneeling events in Croatia every first Saturday of the month.

Since 2015, the Despa memorial has been held on the Croatian coast in the summer, organized by Blood and Honor Croatia. Dozens of neo-Nazis from Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria, and Germany came to the RAC (Rock Against Communism) concerts.

Political Landscape

Political landscape

The far-right is most openly represented in the Croatian Parliament through the Croatian Sovereignists’ Club, which has six members. In that club, we have singers of Ustasha songs, former commanders of special police units that took part in crimes against Serbian civilians, promoters of alt-right propaganda that equates belonging to the LGBT community with pedophilia, and those who want to dig up the Jasenovac death camp.

The Homeland Movement Club had eight members, four of whom can easily be described as far-right. The most famous among them is Zlatko Hasabegović, who became famous while he was the Minister of Culture for shutting down non-profit media and removing the name of Marshal Tito Square in Zagreb. In the 1990s, he participated in a violent anti-anti-fascist protest, wore a Ustasha hat worn by HOS members at NDH Day celebrations, and wrote for NDH magazine celebrating Ustashas as heroes and martyrs.

MP Ante Prkačin left the Homeland Movement at the end of 2023. and went to the newly founded party, Hrvatsko Bilo. He was the war chief of the HOS General Staff, whose unit in BiH was mentioned in the context of war crimes against civilians. He regularly uses the parliamentary rostrum to rehabilitate the Ustasha movement and spread Ustasha mythomania. Ivan Penava and Stipo Mlinaric are MPs from Vukovar, whose entire political program is reduced to spreading hatred towards Serbs.

Most project was conceived in ultra-conservative organizations such as HRAST, which fought against abortion and gay rights. They then continued to fight NGOs, non-profit media, and liberal cultural workers. Today, they also have occasional pro-Ustasha outbursts. Their MP Miro Bulj stood up to defend the Ustasha in the Parliament, where he shouted the Ustasha salute “Za dom spremni” (For homeland – ready!). Most MP Nino Raspudić suggested on public television, if necessary, the option of shooting unarmed people because they cross the border illegally. Miro Bulj then gave the idea a practical framework, proposing the establishment of armed village guards. Most MP Marin Miletić said that “Zagreb is no longer the same because thousands of Nepalese, Indian, Afghan, Pakistani, Filipino migrants flooded the city,” warning that “our Croatia will be a land of insecurity and fear full of migrant ghettos where we won’t be able to walk normally, and our women will be wrapped as if they live among the Taliban.” He added, “We are in the process of replacing the population.”

Media Landscape

Media landscape

The Croatian weekly (Hrvatski Tjednik) systematically denies the crime of genocide committed against Jews, Roma, and Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia and the Ustasha system of the Jasenovac camp. It promotes the deniers of the Jasenovac genocide and the Holocaust. It calls for the financing of their activities, while in various ways, it affirms the Ustasha movement and the character and work of Chief Ante Pavelić.

The media have repeatedly reported on the disgusting writing of Hrvatski Tjednik. For example, they are claiming that the Social Democratic Party of Croatia is “full of potential terrorists and murderers.” Ombudsman Lora Vidovic, historian Hrvoje Klasic, IDS President Boris Miletic, and Zagreb Jewish Community president Ognjen He called Kraus and Milorad Pupovac “riders of the Greater Serbia apocalypse in Croatia”. They called the rape of a girl in Zadar a fabrication. They called former Presidents Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic “shameless,” Stjepan Mesic an “asshole,” and Pope Francis himself an “antichrist,” spreading hatred and the most obscure conspiracy theories, such as that the coronavirus is a “planetary satanic operation of biological warfare” aimed at “chipping” a vaccine to control humanity.

Since 2014, the TV show “Bujica” hosted by Velimir Bujanac has been spreading the most extreme ideas of the Croatian far-right three times a week. In the 1990s, Bujanec established himself as a fascist bully who beat people in the stands, smashed memorial plaques to NOB fighters, worshiped Hitler, burned left-wing newspapers, demolished Tito’s bust, threatened death to Serb minority and activists, expelled “niggers” from UNPROFOR (UN peacekeeping force in Croatia) and ‘dirty Jews,’ calling himself Croatian Ustasha all the time.

Thanks to the right-wing political mainstream, Bujanec will be promoted to a star of the Croatian right and an unofficial channel for most of their incitements, from war veterans protests, pro-Ustasha revisionism, attacks on Serb minorities, and anti-fascist.

Due to hate speech in the talk show Bujica on November 5, 2018, the Council for Electronic Media decided, for 24 hours, to revoke the concession of the broadcasters who broadcast the disputed show. The show called for violence against migrants. Migrants were called sick people, infected with severe and infectious diseases (AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis), which, according to the guest of the show, migrants deliberately spread.

Velimir Bujanec incited hate on leftists, liberals, and representatives of the Serbian minority on Facebook and in his show “Bujica” because they allegedly support Putin. But the Russian president has been praised for years as the “great gentleman,” “true Russian patriot,” and bearer of “traditional values” by the host and guests of “Bujica.” After the Russian invasion, Bujanec began to intensively promote the Ukrainian unit Azov and attack everyone who wrote critically about Azov.

In addition to Bujica and Hrvatski Tjednik, many Internet portals of the far right are constantly emerging and disappearing, which mainly spread texts, transcripts, and video clips from these two media but also produce their content full of hate speech and harassment.

Financial Landscape

Financial landscape

The Supreme Court confirmed the conviction of the Croatian Democratic Union for the Fimi-media affair, named for the private company used to channel public funds into the HDZ’s coffers. The verdict indirectly exposed the back of the far right of Croats. It has been unequivocally established that Hrvatski’s list, which is now called Hrvatski Tjednik and delivers most of the media fascism in Croatia, was also bought with looted money. Another far-right symbol, singer Marko Perkovic Thompson, received money not to sing in the far-right opposition election campaign.

The Ministry of Culture has donated 1.3 million kunas from the European Social Fund to the portal Priznajem, which openly promotes pro-Ustasha revisionism, calls Serbian returnees ‘abolished Chetniks’, NGOs ‘inhumane haters of Croatia,’ and LGBT behavior “a sign of serious illness.” The head of the association and editor-in-chief of the Priznajem portal, Hrvoje Macan, and the head of marketing and his brother Mario were also members of the pro-fascist organization Croatian National Front, which in its founding message in 2010 called for violent methods.

The World Youth Association of Croatia, which received 941 thousand kuna from the same Fund, operates per the goals and mission of the American organization World Youth Alliance. Globally, they are fighting sex education, abortion, premarital sex, and condoms. Their political sponsors claim that HIV is ‘God’s punishment for homosexuality and drug use.’ They also fiercely lobbied for the expulsion of gays from anti-discrimination documents.

Documents published on WikiLeaks show that at the end of 2013, Croatia was among the countries with the highest priority for which the CitizenGO platform decided to expand its influence and funds. That year, a referendum was held in Croatia on the constitutional definition of marriage initiated by the association of Željka Markić, In the Name of the Family.

The documents show several financial transactions with the association In the Name of the Family. Besides Željka Markić, other well-known political names in Croatia are mentioned, such as MEP Karlo Resler or Nikolina Čorak from the Ministry of Veterans and Vice Batarelo, who attended their conferences and summits.

Many associations, forums, and publications are financed by Croats outside their homeland, descendants of the Ustasha. Money for denying Ustasha crimes and demonizing anti-fascists usually comes from Australia, Germany, and Canada. The book, which denies the Jasenovac death camp and the name-by-name list of victims, “Jasenovac List – False Victims,” was financed by Ivan Hrvojić, a Croatian emigrant from Canada. Marko Franović from Sydney boasted that he finances well-known right-wing journalists and publishers Igor Vukić and Tihomir Dujmović, pseudo-historian Roman Leljak, and many other far-right deniers of Ustasha crimes and fans of nazi puppet states and Ustasha death camp commanders such as Josip Jurčević, Stjepan Lozo and Blanka Matkovic.

Reports

Quarterly Reports

Quarterly reports gives in-depth insights into the most pressing recent developments in each country.

Croatia - September 2022
Croatia - September 2022

The main event organized by the extreme right in September in Croatia was the protest of the “Free Together” (Slobodni zajedno) initiative, which was presented as a protest against the work of the Government. The rally was also supported by extreme right-wing parliamentary parties. Instead of talking about the topics they announced (corruption and gas theft), the speakers mainly talked about vaccinations, gender ideology, LGBT propaganda, denied climate change, “big reset” and spoke against the WHO “which is trying to introduce global communist-digital totalitarianism “.
At the meeting, there were several verbal attacks on journalists and the media as the main promoters and producers of lies. Some analysts have noticed that they act like a kind of branch of the German organization “Querdenker“.
The rally will be remembered for the fact that the police detained a suspicious person at the rally, who was found with two Molotov cocktails and a bomb with explosives and nails. The arrested young man was born in 2005 and was previously known to the police as a follower of Marko Francisković, who has been in prison since the end of 2021 on charges of incitement to terrorism.
https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/policija-kod-prosvjednika-pred-hdz-om-nasla-dva-molotovljeva-koktela-i-prirucnu-bombu-15245932
Something else was happening on the edge of the demonstrations. Police did not allow a group of protesters to approach the stage, because “that’s what the organizers asked for”. However, a militant group of thirty people does not give up and breaks through the cordon. One of the leaders of the group, Gordan Šebalj, is member of the Homeland Movement in Kutina, a war veteran and a prominent anti-vaxxer activist. A few months ago, he founded the Hrvatski ratnik (Croatian warrior) association with other veterans and he put a military training of youth in Croatia into the statute of that organization. In April, he announced on Podcast Velebit (extreme right-wing media) that “they are establishing a National Civil Guard with military training.”
https://www.bilten.org/?p=42815
https://projektvelebit.com/podcast-velebit-gordan-sebalj-osnivamo-nacionalnu-civilnu-gardu-s-vojnickom-obukom/
Prime Minister and President of HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) Andrej Plenković said that in Croatia there are people who are ready to use force to overthrow the democratically elected government and that there are people who are organized, arming themselves and trying to change the government by force . He sees an almost identical pattern in this case as in the case of Danijel Bezuk, who shot at the government building and police officers two years ago, and then committed suicide.
https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/plenkovic-paramilitarne-opcije-zele-srusiti-vlast-organizirani-su-naoruzavaju-se/2394637.aspx?indexref=naslovnicavijestiostalod
Marko Milanović Litre, member of parliament of the Croatian sovereignists, boasted on his Facebook profile that he was in Tallinn, Estonia, where he participated in the “Defining Freedom” conference organized by New Direction, of which he is the vice-president. He boasted about his cooperation with Tomasz Poreb, a Polish MEP from the Law and Justice party and the president of New Direction, which has been going on for more than two years. Also in the photo was the well-known homophobe Ryszard Legutko, co-chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists and head of the Polish Law and Justice delegation in the European Parliament.
https://www.facebook.com/markomlitre/posts/pfbid02qPq2znd14WyjUkuwtyvQTzhygtz2yGWgjeNU9ryeSRTfGM46hsRmWdjErgnzknF5l
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/07/07/homophobe-elected-to-lead-conservatives-in-european-parliament/

Croatia - July 2022
Croatia - July 2022

July 2nd – Despa Memorial
For the eighth year Blood and Honor Croatia organized neo-Nazis gathering Despa memorial. It was also held this July and gathered around 70 Nazis from Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Switzerland. Bands played: Feher Torveny from Hungary, Kodex Frei and Smart Violence from Germany.
Blood and Honor Croatia was founded in 2004 and had four divisions: Crusader Rijeka, Division Pula, Division Zagreb and Division Osijek. They cooperate more closely with B&H Slovenia and Hungary. After a series of racist attacks, failed concerts, closed fanzines and arrests, they disappeared from the public and were pushed to the side. But at least once a year, we hear about them after the Despa memorial, when figures like the ones that appeared on the Rijeka beach this summer.
After the Antifašistički vjesnik posted (Antifascist Herald) on Twitter photos of the duo completely tattooed with Nazi tattoos, post became viral. Although it was soon discovered that they were Hungarian neo-Nazis, the false news that they were “Ukrainian tourists” was spread globally.
The Antifascist Herald identified the taller neo-Nazi through photos of the concert on the website of Blood and Honor Hungary. The AntifaInfo Budapest found that the man is a member of the band Hunnia, and he can be seen playing the guitar in several photos on the band’s Facebook page. His name is Anka Kristóf. Shorter neo-Nazi is Tóth Ádám from Godollo, Hungary.
Antifa Herald article: https://www.antifasisticki-vjesnik.org/hr/vijesti/3/Odaklesusepojavilenacistic/473/
AntifaInfo Budapest fb post: https://www.facebook.com/antifainfo.budapesthun/posts/pfbid023Z7J45Eok9g7FApeoPSXrv6BBaiZdYMXNUYZnijZ4ih2MYFrnD1dGGEdf2BwxEYgl
France fact checking article https://www-tf1info-fr.translate.goog/international/fake-news-non-ces-images-ne-montrent-pas-des-refugies-ukrainiens-neonazis-en-croatie-mais-des-hongrois-2226692.html?fbclid=IwAR1URUQtD229Jmept1bp1PBx2AQbg3K83vADE430icDaDf-7dceoFpbD8&xtrsl=auto&xtrtl=en&xtrhl=en&xtrpto=wapp
Hungarian fact checking article https://www-lakmusz-hu.translate.goog/nem-ukran-neonaci-hanem-egy-magyar-skinhead-basszusgitaros-pozolt-a-horvat-tengerparton/?xtrsl=auto&xtrtl=en&xtrhl=en&xtrpto=wapp

Croatia - June 2022
Croatia - June 2022

June 1 Vigilare – a radical ultra-conservative association, the Croatian branch of the Tradition, family, property – TFP movement published a proclamation that looks like a call to crusade: “War has been declared: The supremacy and the powers of darkness have attacked Catholic Croatia – we repel the attack and go into fierce battle!”. They were triggered after mass protests in defense of women’s right to choose and after judgment of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia accepted the appeal against the verdict, and confirmed that the Vigilare association encouraged discrimination and harassment of LGBTIQ persons and their families. Rainbow’s families sued the Vigilars for starting a petition called “Stop homo-propaganda on state television.” Let’s stop fake rainbows, protect children and families!”.
https://vigilare.info/korektnost/2022/06/rat-je-proglasen-vrhovnistva-i-vlasti-tame-napali-su-katolicku-hrvatsku-odbijamo-napad-i-idemo-u-zestok-boj/
June 2 Holocaust denial continues unhindered in Croatia. The new book “Stvarni Jasenovac” (The Real Jasenovac) by Tomislav Vuković, published by the Society for the Research of the Triple Jasenovac Camp was published. Book claims that “science recognizes only 725 victims in Jasenovac”. The fact is that there is a name list of 82,000 killed in Jasenovac Camp.
https://www.maxportal.hr/premium-sadrzaj/osvrt-na-knjigu-stvarni-jasenovac-autora-tomislava-vukovica/
June 8 Right-wingers in Pub organized another homophobic event in Veliki Tolk pub. This time the topic was called: “Monkey Pox Epidemic and LGBT+P”. These questions were discussed: “What, in your opinion, is the most effective way to combat the epidemic of LGBT+P ideology and monkeypox? Is it necessary to introduce a lockdown for members of the LGBT+P community, or would the obligation to wear protective suits be enough? How to respond to the spread of misinformation about the LGBT+P ideology that its advocates carry out in the mainstream media and the education system? Should members of the LGBT+P community be allowed to attend deradicalization programs in order to reintegrate into society, or not? ”
After the LGBT community asked the breweries that advertise in the Veliki Tolk pub if they support their homophobic agenda, the brewers put pressure on pub, and since June 15, the Right-wingers in the pub have been left without a pub.
https://www.facebook.com/events/542095684276276/
June 22
On the Croatian national holiday “Day of the Anti-Fascist Struggle”, the Croatian Studies held an international scientific meeting ‘The Importance of European Memory for the European Future: Communist Crimes’. It was organized with the financial support of the Faculty of Croatian Studies University of Zagreb, Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The gathering was welcomed by the director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Holger Haibach.
We will present several speakers at this anti-anti-fascist revisionist meeting. Bojan Dimitrijević who wears a T-shirt with the symbol of the SS Prinz Eugen division; founder of the alt-right group Generacija Obnova Leo Marić; big fan of Dinko Šakić commander of the Jasenovac death camp, Blanka Matković and denier of Ustasha crimes against the people of Banija and children in the Sisak camp, Vlatka Vukelić.
http://historiografija.hr/?p=31787
June 29 MP Marko Milanović Litre (Croatian Sovereignists) participated in the “Green Conservatism” conference organized by the Polish institute Promyka, a kind of “Think tank” of the ruling Polish party “Law and Justice”.
After that conference, he announced that as the deputy president of the New Direction foundation, in agreement with Poland Prawo and Sprawiedliwość, they enabled all members of Croatian Sovereignty under the age of 30 to participate in the summer camp called “Freedom and Sovereignty” which will be held in Warsaw from the 11th to the 15th. August 2022.
https://www.facebook.com/markomlitre/posts/pfbid035L9PeLEdzNKkT7WufeUaeyP1ge3nrZygWy9rA5C6FjvHh6CU5i9qXBsQTQDX1qLPl
https://www.facebook.com/markomlitre/posts/pfbid0Ucb3GbuUr7VKwLGkUkfHBLYTpruMYteByqVmdniwNUwmUsZb8oZo7aavHp8bFBAvl

Croatia - May 2022
Croatia - May 2022

Introduction
May is the month when two Memorial Days are celebrated in Croatia. The „Day of Victory over Fascism“ is being celebrated quietly and in the organization of anti-fascist associations. The government and the Church at the highest level mark the “Day of Remembrance of Croatian Victims in the Fight for Freedom and Independence” on the day when the Ustashas surrendered to the partisans, a week after the end of World War II in Europe. This year, as usual, the far right took revenge for the defeat by devastating anti-fascist monuments. In Bleiburg this year they were banned from “the largest gathering of fascists in Europe”. Austrian state also removed the Ustasha coat of arms from the monument and the inscription in Croatian “In honour and glory of the fallen Croatian army”.
Updates in the National Landscape
The public was very appalled by the case of a pregnant woman who was carrying a seriously ill fetus and who was refused an abortion by four Zagreb hospitals. Many citizens gathered in Zagreb to support the pregnant woman. At the same time, conservative forces marched in an increasing number of cities on the “Walk for Life”, which demands a ban on abortion. According to opinion polls, 75% of citizens oppose the ban on abortion. But the problem is that 60% of gynaecologists, who are politically recruited in public hospitals, have a “conscience appeal” and until 10 years ago, most of them performed abortions.
https://www.portalnovosti.com/narod-umom-zdravstvo-sumom
https://www.portalnovosti.com/kekin-vecini-lijecnika-priziv-savjesti-pojavio-zadnjih-10-godina
1.5. The Austrian-owned chain of stores Interspar has banned the sale of “Hrvatski tjednik” in its stores in Croatia. This is the most extreme publication of the Croatian extreme right. https://www.portalnovosti.com/interspar-zabranio-prodaju-hrvatskog-tjednika
2.5. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Petrinja was vandalized with Ustasha graffiti https://www.facebook.com/sasa.umicevic.5/posts/5252668778087319
4.5. Austrian state authorities removed the Ustasha coat of arms and the inscription “In honour and glory of the fallen Croatian army” from the monument on the Bleiburg field https://www.portalnovosti.com/austrija-skinula-ustaski-grb-sa-spomenika-na-bleiburgu
8.5. Monument to the fallen soldiers from Remete vandalized in Zagreb https://www.facebook.com/112188670182169/photos/a.112199086847794/902058597861835/
9.5. On the Day of the Liberation of Samobor, a monument to the founding of the Communist Party of Croatia was vandalized with a swastika and “bandits” graffiti. https://www.24sata.hr/news/beljak-pozivam-policiju-da-kukavne-neonacisticke-stakore-smjesti-ili-u-zatvor-ili-u-ludnicu-834316
25.5. Graduating students in Dubrovnik celebrated the end of high school with Ustasha flags, songs, shouts and a Roman salute. https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/maturanti-na-stradunu-urlali-za-dom-spremni/2367316.aspx https://dulist.hr/foto-video-pomorci-slave-zadnji-dan-skole/769039/#&gid=null&pid=3
26.5. Graduating students in Slavonski Brod celebrated the end of high school dressed in imitation of the HOS uniform with fascist salutes. After a journalistic investigation, it turned out that their teacher who published their group picture with salutes on Facebook was already known for their Philo-Ustasha statuses on social networks, a member of an extreme right-wing party who took students to the commemoration in Bleiburg. https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/foto-nacisticki-pozdrav-maturanata-u-brodu-s-njima-i-profesorica/2367246.aspx
31.5. The leader of the far-right HASP party Drazen Keleminec, right-wing historian Ante Nobilo and the Bujica TV crew interrupted with verbal attacks public panel about Croatian Army Airforce war crime against Serb civilians in exile in August 1995. https://www.portalnovosti.com/desnicari-prekinuli-tribinu-o-petrovackoj-cesti
Transnational Social Media Activity & Propaganda/Narratives
MEP Ladislav Iličić, a member of the Croatian Sovereignist, published a letter on his Facebook page to the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Austria. He asks him to return the celebration of the Ustasha army and the Ustasha coat of arms to the monument in Bleburg. It relativizes previous gatherings and presents them as the service of the Catholic Holy Mass. He believes that the ban on the gathering in Bleibrug is the result of “anti-Croatian hysteria and strong pro-communist feelings” in Austria.
https://www.facebook.com/ladislav.ilcic.hr/posts/377053787772716
Transnational Political and Financial Cooperation
MP Marko Milanović Litre, a member of the Croatian Sovereignist, boasted that on May 19 and 20 he will participate in the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world CPAC 2022. , in Budapest. It is organized by the American Conservative Union Foundation and Alapjogokért Központ (The Budapest-based Center for Fundamental Rights). Litre comes to the rally as a representative of the Think Tank New Direction and Croatian Sovereignists.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=427500706043514&set=a.254370486689871

Croatia - April 2022
Croatia - April 2022

Introduction
The war in Ukraine continues to have a major impact on the situation in Croatia, both due to the constant reporting on the suffering of the Ukrainian people and due to the constant rise of prices of food, utilities and fuel.
A regular annual report on the historical revision, hate speech and violence against Serbs of the SNV Bilten was published, recording 506 cases. Almost ten times more graffiti and signs of hateful content were recorded than previous year. https://www.portalnovosti.com/prizma-revizionizma
The extreme right, as usual, marked the NDH Day with Ustasha symbols on social networks, graphite on walls and monuments to the victims of fascism. It is regularly officially marked by the crypto-fascist celebration of the false day of the founding of HOS (paramilitary formation from 90s war). This year, an government emissary also took part in the celebration, saying: “You must know that if there was not April 10, 1941, there would be no today’s Croatia.” Ante Prkačin, Member of Parliament for the Homeland Movement, and the President of the Split-Dalmatia County Assembly, also from the Homeland Movement, also celebrated NDH, and used Ustasha chant “Za dom spremni”. The gathering was also attended by the far-right singer Thompson. https://www.maxportal.hr/premium-sadrzaj/obljetnica-ix-bojne-hos-a-nasi-bojovnici-casno-su-nosili-natpis-za-dom-spremni/ https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/vladin-izaslanik-da-nije-bilo-10-4-1941-ne-bi-bilo-ni-danasnje-hrvatske/2354973.aspx
As positive news, it should be noted that the Republic of Austria banned the rally in Bleiburg, which was also called the largest fascist rally in Europe. https://www.portalnovosti.com/odzvonilo-okupljanju-na-bleiburgu City of Slavonski Brod has finally made the decision to take down the street of Ustasha war criminal Mile Budak, the author of racial laws in NDH. Several other cities in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina still have streets named after him. https://www.portalnovosti.com/slavonski-brod-ostao-bez-ulice-mile-budaka
Transnational Social Media Activity & Propaganda/Narratives
The war in Ukraine also affected the graffiti of the extreme right, which now mixes Ustasha with support for Ukraine, so now the inscriptions “Slava Ukraini” contain Ustasha U with a cross, a symbol of the Crusaders – Ustasha terrorists after the war, and the letter S is written in the style of the SS https://www.portalnovosti.com/grafit-slava-ukraini-uz-ustasko-stilizirano-u
Football hooligans also took over Azov iconography. Stickers of the Bad Blue Boys football fan group are based on the World War II Reich War Flag, but now also in the colors of Ukraine, similar flags could be seen at the Azov Battalion.
Transnational Political and Financial Cooperation
Members of the Presidency of the Croatian Sovereignists: President Marijan Pavliček, Davorin Karačić, Frano Čirko and Marko Milanović Litre participated in a donation dinner for Ukraine organized by the Bad Blue Boys and the Embassy of Ukraine in Croatia. Denis Šeler addressed the audience during the evening; a member of the Croatian sovereignists and a member of the AZOV regiment. The founder of the Azov Regiment, Colonel Andriy Biletsky, also addressed the audience with a video message from the Ukrainian battlefield, thanking Dinamo Zagreb fans.
https://www.vecernji.hr/sport/bad-blue-boysi-odrzali-donatorsku-vecer-za-ukrajinu-veleposlanik-ukrajine-imao-inspirativan-govor-1582606
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=413170257476559&set=a.254370486689871

Croatia - March 2022
Croatia - March 2022

March 8
After the traditional March 8 march in Zagreb, two young men carrying banners with anarchist messages were attacked. One of the victims had a broken elbow. https://www.facebook.com/fAKTIV/posts/4972869236140539
Frano Čirko – Lukov marš
Frano Čirko (Croatian Sovereignists) posted a video of his speech from his ten years ago at an international nationalist conference organized by the Bulgarian People’s Alliance on his Facebook profile. Next to him stood the “Flame of St. Dimitrov” which organized the neo-Nazi Lukov March. Cirko introduced his followers to the messages of the nationalist conference and the Lukov March. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=328998792501494
Mural to a convicted war criminal in Karlovac
At the initiative of the Workers’ Front, a mural dedicated to convicted war criminal Mihajlo Hrastov, which was placed on the railway overpass in Karlovac, will be removed. When asked by Katarina Peović, the Ministry of Transport requested a statement from HŽ Infrastruktura – and HŽ Infrastruktura sent a request for the removal of the mural to the veteran association SJP “GROM”, and ordered the removal of the mural within 10 days! https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/hz-infrastruktura-trazi-da-se-s-vijadukta-u-karlovcu-ukloni-mural-posvecen-mihajlu-hrastovu-15170856 https://www.radnickafronta.hr/zastupnička-pitanja/1734-uklanjanje-murala-ratnog-zločinca-u-karlovcu
Lošo in Velebit Podcast
Retired Admiral and former adviser to President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, Domazet Lošo was a guest on the far-right Velebit Podcast. He is a fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he once described as the only defender of true Christian values. On the Podcast, Velebit he repeated Putin’s thesis that Ukraine was created in the October Revolution, the Ukrainian language is a version of the Russian language, Kyiv has never been Ukrainian, Ukraine is a Russian country … “. He is suspicious of Ukrainian refugees we see on TV:” Look at these refugees. Do you know that there is something called crisis actors? That’s what Hollywood developed. Look at the Ukrainian refugees in relation to ours from the Homeland War. Admiral Lošo resents President Zelenski for “dressing in a woman’s uniform” and “walking in heels”. He is an exponent of the liberal West “in which a man is no longer a man”. https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/domazet-loso-kijev-nikad-nije-bio-ukrajinski-rat-je-zapocela-okultna-oligarhija/2345817.aspx?indexref=naslovnicavijestiostalod
Bujanec switch from putinophile to Azov promotor
Velimir Bujanec incited leftists, liberals and representatives of the Serbian minority on Facebook and in his show “Bujica” because they allegedly support Putin. But the Russian president has been praised for years as the “great gentleman”, “true Russian patriot” and bearer of “traditional values” by the leader and guests of “Bujica”. https://www.facebook.com/antifa.sibenik/videos/1308099206334498 Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, Bujanec has begun to intensively promote the neo-Nazi Ukrainian unit Azov and attack everyone who writes critically about Azov. https://www.portalnovosti.com/bujica-putinofilije
How the right wants to take advantage of the war in Ukraine
Until almost a week ago, most of conservative and far-right politicians, MPs, columnists and activists praised Putin for “representing traditional Christian values”. They supported the annexation of Crimea and called for Croatia to occupy parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. MP Zeljko Sacic wants to use the war in Ukraine to militarize Croatia, invest billions in armaments and restore compulsory military service – of course because of the threat from the east, Serbs. A few years ago, Sacic thanked Putin for his anti-immigrant and patriotic views.
Marin Miletić, MP for Most, announces purges of all those who “worked against the Catholic faith, Croatian culture and identity” because of Putin’s crimes. In the last ten years, the same Marin praised Putin for spreading the faith and Russia’s fight against radical Islamists: “Long live Comrade Putin! That titan who transports parishioners by train through the wastelands of Mother Russia in order to convert and receive the Cross.”
https://www.portalnovosti.com/putin-pod-noge?fbclid=IwAR2DmAnjphmVSQmqbrMmq35Buhs58yu7jvKYKjvnNk6Jd9rUQ-z50oe503I
The entire right wing in Croatia, and especially football fans and vandals, embraced the greeting “Glory to Ukraine, Glory to the Heroes”, which was completely rehabilitated in the mainstream by Russian aggression. Their ultimate goal is the rehabilitation of the Ustasha salute For Home, ready on the same principle. Links were also being placed between the Azov Battalion and the HOS with the same goal.
https://www.dragovoljac.com/index.php/razno/30168-knjiga-akademika-pecarica-za-dom-spremni-i-slava-ukrajini

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Analysis

The Freikorps of Tomorrow

In Russia, right-wing extremists have succeeded in forcing the resignation of the chairman of the State Duma’s Nationalities Committee, Gennadij Semigin. The episode shows how influential Russian fascists have become, especially in the military.

Manifestation of Front Populaire in Paris on the 15th of June 2024 - Photo by Jeanne Menjoulet (Published under CC2.0)

Antifascist Front Suppress the French Far-Right

The New Popular Front (NPF) coalition has won the second round of French parliamentary elections. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) came third but increased its presence in the National Assembly.

Entrance at The European Parliament - Photo by Piotr Iłowiecki

The Far-Right Maneuvers for Power in the EU Parliament

Following last month’s election, about 180 Members of the European Parliament, a quarter of the total 720 members, belong to far-right parties. Considering the immense political moves ahead of and after the elections, it seems almost impossible that the old