Plenković: The song "Bojna Čavoglave" should be seen in the context of Serbian aggression, why didn't the opposition cry like that in the 90s?

Commenting on Marko Perković Thompson's concert in Zagreb on Sunday, which, according to the organizers, gathered over half a million people and caused numerous reactions in Croatia and the region, among other things because the singer used the Ustasha salute "For the homeland, ready", Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković (HDZ) said that it was no different than the last 35 years, and that the opposition's reaction was pure politicization that serves no purpose, N1 reports.

Plenković said that he would not ban the song "Bojna Čavoglave", which begins with the aforementioned Ustasha salute, and stressed that it should be viewed in the context of "aggression and occupation" during which it was composed, referring to the civil war in Yugoslavia in the 90s.

He described Thompson's concert as "an organizational success that we can all be proud of."

"It's not every day that 500.000 people come and listen to one performer, and everything goes perfectly. My political assessment is the following, his concert was no different than the last 35 years. The great astonishment in terms of the performance of one song surprises me, especially because the courts have said their piece," said the Croatian Prime Minister, adding that the police will process individual cases of unauthorized signs and songs and that he has nothing to add.

"Also, I must remind you, the City of Zagreb is responsible for the organization, and the Government has taken responsibility for what it must do in such a case. I think that all in all it went as it should," Plenković added.

He said that for the last 20 years he has always condemned what is not permitted by law.

"As for the opposition, it is so well-bred, as are the media on the left spectrum, because half a million people showed up at the concert and everything was fine. Their reaction was exaggerated. Pure politicization that is of no use. In terms of organization, everything went wonderfully. Of course, I knew it would come down to the first three words of the song 'Bojna Čavoglave', which has been around for 34 years and will probably be a hundred. We will not ban the song, which is not the case with any court. And in another context, you have the reactions of the police and the decisions of the courts. It is not up to me, and I am explaining when the song was created, during the war and at the time of aggression and occupation. We should look at it in that context," Plenković explained.

The Croatian Prime Minister said that the controversial song is part of the integral repertoire at every Thompson concert.

"Thompson is the only one who can bring half a million people and I don't know who is crying more, those on the right because they don't have the privilege of seeing him, or those on the left. What were we supposed to say? Ban him? Then they would accuse us of censoring him. Why didn't the opposition cry like that in the 1990s," he asked.

He also explained that he decided to come to the concert rehearsal to see how the preparations were progressing, and that he wanted to take a photo with Thompson, mostly because, as he said, the children wanted an autograph.