Anušić: I was at Thompson's concert and used the greeting "For the Homeland Ready", that song is the anthem of the Homeland War

Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anušić said that he had no objection to the use of the Ustasha salute "For the Homeland Ready" at Marko Perković Thompson's concert in Zagreb on Sunday, and that he himself used it as someone who attended that musical event.

"Well, of course I did, and so did half a million people who said they were ready. Because as a Croatian defender, I know how much that encouragement and that song meant to me. That song became the anthem of the Homeland War. That part of that song is protected by a court decision and as such is not punishable," Anušić said in an interview for the Danas.hr portal.

When a journalist commented that the Constitutional Court had declared the salute unconstitutional, Anušić responded that the song in which it is used - "Bojna Čavoglave" - ​​was "something that was created in one of the most difficult moments of the Croatian homeland, in blood and pain."

"And when we did the impossible, which no one expected from us - that song was created," added the Croatian minister.

Anušić said that he was at the concert, from the first to the last song.

"I listened, saw the people who were at the concert, talked to them, felt the atmosphere – half a million people. Probably one of the world's largest concerts ever held in history took place in our small Croatia, which has a population of 3,8 million. And 500 thousand people came to visit a musician and listen to what he had to sing.

"The youth of Croatia who sang about the homeland, faith and the Homeland War and the heroes of the Homeland War. If someone thinks that is a shame, I would say that they are a shame for Croatia if they do not recognize the values ​​that were sung about. These people gathered in such large numbers and all sang together in one voice," the Croatian Minister of Defense emphasized.

When asked by reporters whether Anušić had any objection to the fact that some people sang the Ustasha military song "Jura i Boban" outside the concert, the minister replied that if someone sang it or wore an Ustasha cap, the police had clearly defined criminal sanctions for them.

"It has always worked so far and will always work. This was not an ordinary concert. This is something much more than a concert. And at this moment, some things will irreversibly begin to change in politics and society in general – in the entire Republic of Croatia, in Croatian consciousness and the Croatian people," Anušić emphasized.

The European Commission reacted yesterday to the chanting of "For the homeland, ready" at Marko Perković Thompson's concert and to other Ustasha symbolism highlighted by some of the concertgoers in Zagreb.

"We strongly condemn any expression of fascism that reminds us of the darkest periods of European history," the European Commission said.