Handball players welcome Croatia in the center Zagreb it was originally conceived as a solemn celebration on the occasion of winning the bronze medal at the European Championship. But in the end, the handball players on the tribune at Ban Jelačić Square were just extras in the political dispute between Mayor Tomislav Tomašević and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the real stars of the evening. Marko Perković Thompson on the other side.
"First of all, this is about control over patriotism, about who is authorized to represent the Croatian political and patriotic position," he said in an interview with DW political analyst Žarko Puhovski.
HDZ does not want competition from the right
HDZ has traditionally taken this for itself, Puhovski explains, but as the party began to turn towards the center in the past, appetites for a partial takeover of that role appeared on the extreme right. The HDZ reacted to that by supporting Thompson and his concerts in order to strengthen their position as "ruler" on the right.
That process started last summer, with the support of Plenković and members of the Government for the big Thompson concert at the Zagreb Hippodrome, and now "handball was an opportunity to show Croatian patriotism, because in cheering for the national team that patriotic moment is the widest", says Puhovski.
On the other hand, Tomislav Tomašević and his party Mozemo! they seek to profile themselves as an anti-fascist and left-wing political alternative that opposes Thompson's revisionist attempts to normalize Ustashi and portray the WWII-era Ustashi movement as essentially patriotic and harmless. That's why Tomašević, referring to the previous decision of the City Assembly, forbade Thompson to perform on public city grounds.
"State's Strike on the City"
In response, the Government decided to take over the organization of the reception - with Thompson and in deliberate violation of the current laws, according to which the local government must give permission to anyone who wants to use a public space for public gatherings. "The government did not ask that from the city, and thus violated the constitutional provision from Article 4 that local self-government acts as an element of limiting state power," says Puhovski. In this case, the opposite happened: the state limited the self-government in its powers and organized the meeting on its own, against the will of the city administration. According to Puhovski, this will probably end up in court.
Mayor Tomašević called the Government's move scandalous and "a blow by the state to the City of Zagreb". He said that Plenković thereby showed that he does not respect the democratically elected government in Zagreb, and that "what is happening now, I believe that many people in Croatia, not only in Zagreb, have been shocked that such a thing is even possible," Tomašević pointed out.
Plenković, as expected, disputed that. "I reject all theses about any unconstitutional and illegal actions of the Government. The Government works in accordance with the Constitution, in accordance with the law, in accordance with its powers and, most importantly, in accordance with common sense," said the Prime Minister of Croatia after the session of the Presidency and the National Board of HDZ.
Photo: Tanjug/Hina/Damir SenčarWelcome of Croatian handball players in Zagreb with Tomspna
Everyone is a winner.
Puhovski, however, believes that in the end this complete controversy benefited both Tomašević and Plenković. "Politically speaking, both of them are on the winning side. The We Can! party, which governs Zagreb, won points with its supporters and those who support it, by bravely resisting various pressures, of which there were many. And on the other hand, Plenković gets points as the man who saved the day and made it possible for the great champion of the Croatian right, Thompson, to still sing on the main square to welcome the handball players."
The handball players themselves, on the other hand, had a marginal role in all of this and, as Puhovski assumes, they were manipulated. They first agreed to a reception without Thompson, but shortly after winning the bronze, they broke that agreement and ultimately started demanding his performance.
A deep rift in society
Photo: Tanjug/Hina/Damir SenčarHandball players welcome in Zagreb
The dispute over the reception has once again shown the deep division that exists in Croatian society. Former president of the HDZ and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor formulated it this way on the X platform: "This is now a war. Unprecedented in the political history of the Republic of Croatia!"
And the former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Vesna Pusić, wrote: "This violence with Thompson against the citizens of Zagreb must stop once and for all! We don't want it! We elected a mayor who reflects the majority opinion of Zagreb. Enough of this primitive disobedience! Let the handball players play handball, not lead politics and bully Zagreb."
The first reactions from abroad also arrived at the reception. The French news agency AFP published a text with the headline: "Croatian ultra-nationalist singer held a concert in Zagreb despite the dispute." The article states, among other things, that "on Monday, the controversial ultra-nationalist Croatian singer welcomed the national handball team in Zagreb after winning the medal (…) after the mayor's attempts to prevent it failed." It is also added that "the folk-rock icon is Marko Perković, known by the stage name Thompson and by the song that begins with a salute from the time of the Ustasha regime from World War II, and his fans often point out fascist symbols", but it is also stated that he did not perform the disputed song this time.
