Mayor of Zagreb: Croatia is not loved by referring to the NDH

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević condemned the celebration of the "Independent State of Croatia" and the atmosphere of threats bordering on political violence by a group of masked individuals, last night in the center of Zagreb on the occasion of the Day of Serbian Culture.

"Zagreb and Croatia do not like each other by referring to the NDH, which passed racial laws and systematically killed people in concentration camps because they had different religions, nationalities or political views," Tomašević wrote on social media.

He emphasized that no one should be above the law.

Dozens of masked men gathered last night in front of the Serbian Cultural Center in Zagreb on the eve of the opening of the Serbian Culture Day, but they soon dispersed after special police arrived.

The crowd sang "Croatia, an Independent State" and "Call, Just Call." Most wore black clothing, hoods on their heads, and masks over their faces.

Zagreb police announced that they had prevented possible illegal behavior near the area in the center of Zagreb where an exhibition was opening as part of the Days of Serbian Culture.

The police stated that they would analyze all available footage to determine if there were elements of illegal behavior.

The media reported that some of the participants verbally attacked two female journalists.

According to the Index portal, the police will increase their presence at events organized by the Serbian minority in the future to prevent possible incidents.

The gathering of masked men in Zagreb is linked to a recent incident in Split where masked men, mostly members of the Torcida fan group, prevented the opening of a cultural event of the Serbian national community. This is the Days of Serbian Culture organized by "Prosvjeta".

On the evening of November 3, hooligans prevented the opening of a cultural event in Split. Some of them shouted the Ustasha salute "For the homeland, ready." Among them were several members of the Torcida fan group, and they told the crowd that they could not perform because this was the month in which the victims of Vukovar were commemorated.

Organizers from the Serbian Cultural Society "Prosvjeta" immediately stopped the event, which was supposed to include young people from Novi Sad and other cities, and left the city premises so as not to endanger the safety of the performers and guests, including children. There was no physical violence or injuries in the event.

The incident was condemned by numerous Croatian politicians from both the government and the opposition, as well as Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and President Zoran Milanović, who expressed their expectation that those responsible would be quickly found and punished.

So far, nine people have been detained and sentenced to one month in pretrial detention for the criminal offense of violent behavior and violation of freedom of expression of nationality.

The Torcida fan group has announced a protest on Split's Riva for today due to the arrest of the attacker, or rather to express dissatisfaction with "the hypocrisy and lynching that has been taking place in the public and political space in recent days, which culminated in the detention of the defender."

They stated on the social network that it all started with "an event aimed at peacefully expressing disagreement with the holding of events at which Croatian cities are sung about as Serbian and promote so-called culture, thereby representing the state that carried out aggression against our homeland, whose army burned our cities and villages, killed and tortured Croats and shrouded many families in black, more than 1700 of whom are still searching for the remains of their loved ones to this day."

Hateful graffiti against the Serbian national minority appeared in several locations in Split yesterday.