Itwouldn’t be fair to blame only the Brits for being hateful.
[IsrelTimes] Authorities say they could prosecute some members of audience for their displays at Marko Perkovic concertThe Croatian singer Marko Perkovic, who is known for his far-right sympathies, led nearly half a million concertgoers in a pro-Nazi salute in Zagreb on Saturday night.
During the concert — billed as the largest in Croatia’s history — Perkovic played one of his most popular songs which begins with the pro-Nazi "For the homeland — Ready!" salute.
The salute is a remnant of the Ustaše regime, the Nazi puppet government formally known as the Independent State of Croatia. The brutal regime housed dozens of concentration camps during World War II and was responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma, as well as Croatians who opposed its rule.
In recent decades, Croatian nationalists have adopted the symbols of the Ustaše regime to promote their vision of Croatian ethnic identity. The symbols have become increasingly mainstream despite efforts by Croatian Jews to press for increased penalties for such displays.
In what some in Croatia interpreted as a lack of concern about promoting Ustaše sympathizers, Croatia’s prime minister, Andrej Plenković, attended Thompson’s rehearsal with his family.
While making the Ustaše salute is a misdemeanor in Croatia, courts have ruled that Perkovic — who performs under the name Thompson — can use it as part of his act. Perkovic has said both the song and the salute channel sentiments about the ethnic war against Serbia in the 1990s, after Croatia declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia.
As Perkovic came onto the stage, the singer told the crowd that "with this concert we will show our unity," according to Euro News. He continued, "I want to send a message to all of Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...to return to its tradition, to its Christian roots."
Croatian authorities said they could prosecute some in attendance for their displays. A Croatian handball star was dropped from his team after attending the concert, the Croatian state television
station HRT reported.
The concert drew criticism from some Croatian officials, including former prime minister Jadranka Kosor, who accused the authorities and media of indulging the right-wing singer.
"Not only are the state and the city serving one man but the television stations are as well," Kosor wrote on X. "There’s palpable excitement while in the center of Zagreb, fans are already singing songs from the time of the criminal state. The media are not reporting on this."
Croatian Ombudsperson Tena Simonovic Einwalter also condemned authorities for failing to publicly denounce the incidents, according to Balkan Insight.
"This indicates that, over the years, and even before this concert, a sufficiently clear message has not been sent that all expressions of hatred and glorification of the darkest periods of the past are unacceptable and illegal," Simonovic Einwalter said.