Croatia’s government is dealing with the fallout of aggressively nationalist celebrations held earlier this week to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Operation Storm, a military campaign that led to the death and displacement of tens of thousands of Serbs.
Serbia’s foreign ministry delivered an official letter of protest concerning the apparent endorsement by Croatia’s president and other state officials of hate speech and pro-fascist rhetoric.
They emphasize that in the presence of the highest Croatian authorities in Knin on 5 August, slogans representing not just hate speech, but a call to lynch and destroy Serbs (“Kill, kill Serbs,” “Ready for the Homeland,” “We Croats don’t drink wine, we drink Chetnik blood from Knin” (Mi Hrvati ne pijemo vina, pijemo krv cenika iz Knina,” and others), with the emphasis on fascist symbols of the Independent State of Croatia in a year when Europe is marking 70 years since the victory over fascism.
“Such behavior is absolutely contrary to the civilizational and European values, as well as the antifascist tradition of the European Union, and represents the grossest violation of human and minority rights, guaranteed by international organizations that Croatia is a member of. Such actions encourage the repeat killing and persecution of Serbs in Croatia,” the foreign ministry said.
Croatian police announced on Thursday that they would issue a fine on the famous Croatian performer Marko “Thompson” Perkovic, who used pro-Ustasha slogans and icons during a state-sponsored concert that was part of the government-organized festivities. Perkovic has been performing songs featuring Ustasha slogans for many years, and was performing with the full knowledge of Croatian officials.
