Croatian Fascist Slogan Deemed Unconstitutional but Allowable

February 28, 201817:57
An expert advisory council said the Croatian government should allow the WWII fascist salute ‘Za dom spremni’, which has caused repeated controversy, to be used “in exceptional situations” under strict conditions.

This post is also available in this language: Shqip Macedonian Bos/Hrv/Srp

The Croatian Defence Forces coat of arms with the ‘Za dom spremni’ slogan on a plaque in Jasenovac. Photo: Beta.

Croatia’s Council for Dealing with Consequences of the Rule of Non-Democratic Regimes presented a proposal on Wednesday for legal amendments that would allow the exceptional use of the Croatian World War II fascist Ustasa chant ‘Za dom spremni’ (‘Ready for the Home(land)’).

The government established the Council in March 2017 in order to work out a response to the question of how to deal with the enduring legacy of the WWII fascist Ustasa movement and its Nazi puppet-state Independent State of Croatia, NDH, and that of socialist Yugoslavia, which was led by the League of Communists.

Founded as an advisory body including historians, legal experts, political scientists and heads of prominent cultural institutions, it was tasked with drafting a proposal for potential legal amendments, as well as set out ways how to commemorate events from those regimes and how to approach the topic for educational purposes.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic first mentioned setting up the body in December 2016 during a row over a plaque with ‘Za dom spremni’ installed in Jasenovac, near the site of the biggest Ustasa concentration camp, where over 83,000 Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascists were killed between 1941 and 1945.

The use of the slogan has been a subject of repeated controversies in Croatia over the past few years. As Plenkovic pointed out, it also features on the official coat of arms of the 1990s paramilitary unit, the Croatian Defence Forces, HOS.

After the final meeting of the Council on Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic held a press conference along with the president of the council, Zvonko Kusic, who is also the president of Croatian Academy Sciences and Arts.

“Since the issue of the work of this Council was related to the concrete case of the HOS plaque, it’s clear… that this chant on that plaque is contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, there is no dilemma there. But [Kusic] also acknowledged the fact that under strictly prescribed conditions it could be used in exceptional situations,” Plenkovic said.

He rejected journalists’ suggestions that the government is not condemning the legacy of the Ustasa regime, but added that this refers to “a completely different context” – the use of the chant by the HOS in the 1990s war.

“‘Za dom spremni’ on the HOS’s coat of arms can be used only exceptionally, only in relation to those situations, sites or cemeteries, where HOS members were killed. This permission does not change the conclusion that the slogan is unconstitutional,” Kusic said.

After Plenkovic’s comment in March 2017 that the point of establishing the Council was to make “a clean break from all totalitarianism”, media have speculated about whether it would suggest a ban on both ‘Za dom spremni’ and the Communist red star, which was used by the Yugoslav anti-fascist Partisans and the Yugoslav People’s Army.

However, the European Court of Human Rights in 2008 ruled in favour of a Hungarian politician, Attila Vajnai, who was handcuffed and sentenced to a year’s parole in 2003 for wearing a red star, saying the ban violated his freedom of expression.

The ECHR established that the red star is still a symbol of the international workers’ movement and the fight for a more just society, as well as a legitimate symbol of the left that it used by some political parties in Europe.

Kusic also said on Wednesday that the red star and other symbols of Communism carry both positive and negative connotations, and that the link to the anti-fascist struggle is “undisputable”, but lawmakers can decide if some Communist symbols incite violence or hatred.

READ MORE:

Croatia’s Undemocratic Past Creates Present-Day Problems

Croatia’s Undemocratic Regimes Council’s Mission Still Unclear

Croatia Ban on Red Star Carries Risks, Professor Says

Croatia Fascist Slogan Threatens to Topple Govt

Fascist Chants Mar Croat Nationalist Concert in Bosnia

Sven Milekic


This post is also available in this language: Shqip Macedonian Bos/Hrv/Srp