At the recently held European Championship hrvatski handball players won a bronze medal (since the establishment of the independent Republic of Croatia, their 16th medal at a major competition), which caused great enthusiasm for the entire nation, so their city Zagreb, in agreement with the Croatian Handball Association (HRS), should organize a festive reception in the center of the metropolis as a sign of gratitude. The "hodogram" of the celebration was agreed upon: who would perform, which songs to sing, and it seemed that there were no problems with the program. But, at the last moment, despite the agreement, the handball players, through the HRS (in which, as in all other sports associations in the country, the people from Hadeze have the main say) ultimatum (for) requested to appear on the celebratory stage Marko Perkovic Thompson (whose song "If you didn't know what was" was declared their "anthem"), an icon of the Croatian extreme right and a singer who openly promotes the Ustašluk, glorifies the NDH and at his concerts (the song "Bojna Čavoglava") shouts the Ustaša salute "Za dom spremni" (ZDS), which the mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, resolutely refused, referring to the conclusion of the City Assembly (from November last year) in which it obliged him (learned by the experience of Thompson's concerts at the Zagreb Hippodrome and in the city's Arena, where euphorically chanted "po Ustasha") that he must prevent any use of "fascist and Ustasha symbols", as well as the use and use of the ZDS salute on the surfaces and spaces managed by the City of Zagreb. Since Thompson ignored the voted conclusions, a ban on performing at the specified locations for the next five years automatically followed. And it seemed that there would not be a formal welcome. However, this is exactly what the Government of the Republic of Croatia, led by Plenković, was waiting for. The HRS immediately offered to organize a celebration and comply with the handball player's request. because otherwise it would be a great shame and ingratitude towards "our knights", who "died" for their people and country. Only a "rigid leftist", like the mayor of Zagreb and his non-national "left-liberal sect 'Možemo'", can turn a deaf ear to such a thing, which of course has nothing to do with the truth.
POLITICAL MANEUVERS
He is alone. Plenkovic, who is undoubtedly behind this whole farce, on a couple of occasions, paraphrasing Cardinal Stepinac, stressed: what kind of prime minister would he be if he did not recognize/feel any of his Croatian people who are proud of the success of handball players and want to express their gratitude. And so the celebration that Plenković personally avoided took place. Thompson sang seven songs, of course "Cavoglava" was not among them (otherwise a striking part of his repertoire), which only confirms that Plenković and his group planned and coordinated everything in detail (including with Thompson) in advance in order to take advantage of the opportunity and realize their plan: to nail Tomašević to the national pillar of shame. And what is far more important, they carried out a preventive attack, an "assault", on the city government and the party "Možemo" (planning a large coalition with the SDP for the next elections), in which the people of Hadeze, certainly with reason, recognize the most dangerous competitor in the next election cycle. Tomašević is slowly but surely growing into a national opposition leader, Zagreb is under his firm administration, a huge part of the citizens support him, which is a painful thorn in the side of the Hadese people and they are not followed by any scandals and/or corrupt tails worth mentioning (in which Plenković and HDZ are suffocating) and therefore, the prime minister panickedly concludes, while there is still time, it is necessary to compromise them as soon as possible and as much as possible.
And the handball players came to Plenković like manna from heaven so that he could present himself to the public as a defender of homeland values, a national leader who, unlike the "godless left", cares about the Croatian people. Plenković, I repeat, "recognizes any of his people", at the same time impermissibly and unscrupulously narrowing his own view of the people to the home-defending, undoubtedly "tribal" part which is up to Ustashi dernekas and resentments, vain sovereignty, nationalist frustrations full of hatred towards Serbs and all others who differ from us in terms of gender, religion, culture, race of clero-nationalist associations and similar Hadeze affiliates (political prisoners of communist casemates, victims of Bleiburg and the like) - in memory of Yugoslavia, socialism and Tito's hair stands on end. Obviously aware that he is slowly losing the trust of the broad civic center, Plenković leans more and more towards the right in the broadest and worst sense of the word, convinced that under his leadership and with the help of Thompson, he can gather them together and thus form a broad electoral framework and alliance of a number of obscure parties and movements on the (radical) right, including Pena's "Homeland Movement", Pavliček's sovereignists, numerous, mutually quarreling right-wing currents, etc. But it is an extremely dangerous calculation and game, not only for Plenković personally but also for the entire Croatian society, because with this the Prime Minister is consciously embarking on an open, uncompromising, disastrous polarization of (already deeply divided) societies, telling the electorate: whoever is not with us, is against us.
RADICALIZATION
Even during the time of Karamarko and characters like Hasanbegović and similar political and moral caricatures, the HDZ did not turn to the right in such a drastic way, but today, when you look at the "developmental" whole of the ten-year Plenković's rule, during which the abnormal was systematically "normalized" (ZDS, corruption, democracy, illiberal autocracy, etc.), then it becomes clear and logical that it could not have ended differently. In Brussels, a polished European with civil manners, Plenković behaves arrogantly, exclusively, violently, in the style of "the country is me" at home. However, until recently, he at least formally adhered to some kind of democratic framework, and when he played around with them (he often did), he would try to "wrap" them in cellophane and thus hypocritically present them to the public in some kind of legal semblance. But the parade around the organization of the reception of the handball players clearly showed and confirmed that Plenković has crossed the Rubicon and, when he needs it, he openly ignores and violates the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and all legal norms. He does this because he has estimated that he can, and must, if he wants to remain at the head of the HDZ, as well as in the ruling prime minister's seat. Namely, Plenković knows very well that the Hadeze Taliban (Minister of the Army Ivan Anušić, Minister of Transport Oleg Butković and their entourage) have never accepted him as their own, they tolerate him only as long as he brings them victories. Objectively, Plenković is not their "blood type", but he understood that the time had come for him to radicalize his demagoguery, populism and present himself as a "bigger Catholic than the Pope" and thus neutralize competitors within the party with their weapons. And at the same time, to threaten Tomašević and the left that he is ready for (literally) anything in order to remain in power with the HDZ. In this regard, the reception of the handball player is a warning "show exercise" to everyone inside and outside the party from the wide repertoire of eyeless political maneuvers that are available to him and for which he is ready (for the home). Brutally derogating from the competences of local self-government, which undoubtedly (as independent constitutional experts point out in unison) violated Article 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (it says that local self-government is not a branch of the central state, but has autonomous competences prescribed by the constitution), justifying the reception of handball players with a higher national interest that goes beyond "limited" local powers (including obtaining the necessary permits for the organization of public gatherings and gatherings, which is under the exclusive competence of the City), Plenković played an unprecedentedly dangerous game with an extremely uncertain, but for society without any doubt devastating outcome. This is confirmed by the statement of the Vice President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, Branko Bačić, who cynically emphasized that on such occasions of national celebration, Plenković does not have to follow every legal paragraph to the letter.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Although the political alphabet says that there is no democracy without respect for the procedure, it is obvious that this is not important at all to the rulers of Hadeze. Therefore, it is not surprising that many analysts have started looking (why only now?) for Plenković's similarities with Vučić, which is completely wrong because Plenković has long been the Croatian version of Vučić, only far more perfidious, wrapped in a "European cloak". The question arises, which of the participants in this gloomy "handball" match lost, and who won? At first, it appears that Plenković is the winner, but the impression is deceiving; turning radically to the right, he will lose the civic center, without which it is difficult to win elections, and Tomasevic will profit more with the passage of time, since he has shown himself to be a politician who keeps his word, respects the letter of the law and does not agree to blackmail. He showed all the qualities of a true leader and statesman, which the civic, anti-fascist and democratic Croatian political scene has long desired. True, this will open up new problems for the left and its gathering, but that is another story. And who is the loser? Undoubtedly, Croatian democracy and civil society ruled by unscrupulous political manipulators and usurpers, for whom it is unthinkable to give up power. And that's why they frantically provoke dangerous social divisions and "turning points" as a pledge to remain in power. By grace or by force.
