Center and center-right politicians express concern over Sunday's anti-fascist march

A march titled "United Against Fascism" was held in four Croatian cities at noon on Sunday. Organizers say that the marches in Zagreb, Rijeka, Pula and Zadar, were held in response to the ubiquitous violence, fear and threats they claim they face from their ideological opposites.

A number of politicians today commented on yesterday's march against fascism in Pula, Rijeka, Zadar and Zagreb, calling it a blatant attempt to normalize left-wing radicalism and to rehabilitate the failed experiment of communist Yugoslavia. Homeland Movement MP Ivica Kukavica: "We view what we saw in Croatia yesterday as the biggest provocation of so-called anti-fascists since the Homeland War. The fight against fascism cannot justify a nostalgia for a totalitarian regime. The fact that there were more banners in Cyrillic script than there were Croatian flags at this gathering indicates that yesterday's anti-fascist march was aimed directly against Croatia as a country."

"Obviously, some people still mourn the previous failed state, which is scandalous. They claim to be fighting for a better Croatia, and in reality we can see now that they care about something else, and not Croatia. In reality this just shows that we have a problem with the radical left and their extremism, and not an increase in fascism, as some claim, because there is no fascism anywhere to be seen," added MOST Party President Nikola Grmoja.

For his part Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ivan Anušić said the message from the march was clear: "This wasn't a protest against fascism, it was a protest against Croatia. The message being sent, including on those banners in Cyrillic script, was clearly a protest against Croatia and I would say pro-Yugoslavian, maybe even something worse than pro-Yugoslavian."

Source: HRT