The announced concert/s of the nationally popular singer - whose artistic pseudonym is also the name of a classic rifle or machine gun - at the Zagreb Hippodrome in early July this year, as expected, are causing heated discussions in the domestic public and media, but also in public places, gathering points and socializing of a large number of people.
Listening to conversations between strangers about phenomena from the general social domain in public places is a unique method of collecting inspirational samples, appropriate for a column such as this one. Personally, I like this type of "ethnography". There is of course no shortage of content on the aforementioned topic, so it is safe to assume that it will only multiply in the coming months.
Behind the typical binary perspective – the political right, which considers Puška's concerts as collective rituals of patriotism and expression of pathos in the name of the Nation and Homeland, and interprets his upcoming performance in Zagreb as a "rally of national truth"; and the political left, for which the gatherings in question are merely a training ground for the unadulterated manifestation of Nazi-fascist ideology – I consider the middle-line perspective, often represented in Zagreb, to be the most indicative because its articulation can often be heard there.
This, like the current Zagreb local government, nominally adorns itself with the attributes of the contemporary left, but is actually marked by a typically liberal approach, with efforts to find a consensus between two extremes that, viewed from such a perspective, are (over)burdened with ideology through a supposedly objective and reasonable policy of "realistically possible".
If we apply the above to the example of the upcoming Puška concert at the Zagreb Hippodrome, the summary argument that you will easily hear goes something like this: I am never in favor of banning any concert, and anyone's, if all legal requirements are met and the regulations for its holding are respected.
There is a step further: however, if during those days, at the concert venue and in the city, there is a promotion of costumes and choreography typical of Ustasha fascism, then I will not hesitate to call the police as many times as necessary and ask them to intervene in accordance with legal regulations prohibiting the public display of such symbols.
What is significant about such an attitude is that they would rather (perhaps) treat rather than prevent in a timely manner. If this were translated into the political arena, preventing would also mean engaging in open ideological confrontation, which the current Zagreb liberal left in power does not intend to do, and perhaps is not even capable of doing.
Something very dangerous will happen in Zagreb at the beginning of July 2025. On the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Zagreb from fascism, tens of thousands of neo-Ustasha will march through the same city, and with them even more of those who don't mind such things. The rest of us will quietly retreat. Those who can will leave the city for a few days, and those who will have to stay will lock themselves in their homes.
Bonus video:
