Unprecedented Security Measures Planned for Thompson Concert

The largest musical event in Croatian history will take place Saturday night at the Zagreb Hippodrome, where half a million people are expected for the Marko Perković Thompson concert.

Given the scale of the event, security will be tighter than ever. A special operations headquarters set up by the Interior Ministry will monitor the Hippodrome, the city, and major roads across the country.

This is the first time an event in Croatia will be surveilled in this way. The headquarters is located in a building known locally as The Cube, just across the Sava River from the Hippodrome. From there, police will have real-time oversight of all teams in the field, traffic routes, and citywide surveillance cameras.

To avoid communication issues, the Ministry has created its own secure mobile network.

“The Ministry has set up a virtual mobile network that covers the Hippodrome area and the opposite riverbank. These police phones run completely independently of Croatia’s three mobile providers and will be used by all departments,” said Marijan Vukušić, head of IT at the Ministry of the Interior.

According to Vukušić, this is the first time in 27 years that such extensive surveillance has been used for a public event. He noted that while major visits — like those of the Pope or world leaders — have required tight security before, advances in technology and the widespread use of mobile phones, drones, and other devices have made modern security both more sophisticated and more complex.

Asked about the risk of network failure, Vukušić pointed out that during the Petrinja earthquake, only the Ministry’s system remained operational — the same system now being used for this event.