LINTA: HALF A MILLION CROATS AT THOMPSON’S CONCERT – PROOF THAT CROATIA IS PRO-USTASHA

BELGRADE, JULY 6 /SRNA/ - Miodrag Linta, the chair of the Alliance of Serbs from the Region, stated that the attendance of half a million Croats at the Marko Perković Thompson concert in Zagreb represents the clearest evidence that Croatia is a pro-Ustasha state.

"Thompson is a Croatian fascist who has, for more than 30 years, through his songs, concerts, lectures to children and youth, and public appearances, been working to rehabilitate Ustashism, Ustasha criminals, and the genocidal Independent State of Croatia /NDH/," Linta emphasized.

He said that for Thompson and his many followers, the genocidal NDH was the true state of the Croatian people, and Ustasha criminals are seen as "heroes and fighters for Croatian people’s freedom."

"This is just one example showing that Croatia has not faced its genocidal past and has not become a modern state," Linta stated.

He pointed out that attendees at yesterday’s concert in Zagreb were widely wearing black shirts with the Ustasha slogan " For the homeland – ready!" or with the Ustasha "U" symbol or names of Ustasha units, as well as flags with the Ustasha coat of arms - a checkerboard starting with a white field -along with other Ustasha insignia. Thompson himself appeared on stage wearing a black shirt with the prison number of Ustasha terrorist Zvonko Bušić.

Linta highlighted that many Croatian public and political figures attended the concert, including Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković and Croatia’s national football team coach Zlatko Dalić, according to a statement by the Alliance of Serbs from the Region.

"The majority of attendees were young people under 30, for whom the chauvinist Thompson is a main idol because he glorifies the Ustasha movement and celebrates the expulsion of Serbs during the criminal Operation Storm," Linta stated.

He also noted that this is confirmed by a 2021 study conducted by the Social Research Institute in Zagreb and the Croatian NGO "Gong," showing that over two-thirds - around 70 percent - of final-year high school students in Croatia believe "the genocidal NDH was not a fascist creation."

He adds the results were almost identical in the initial study conducted in 2015.

"According to Croatian media, the wildest reaction at the concert came during the notorious anti-Serb song Bojna Čavoglave, which was the unofficial anthem of Croatian paramilitary and military forces during the civil war. Thompson, as usual, began the song by shouting ‘For the homeland’, to which the crowd responded ‘Ready!’," Linta stated.

He also said that a journalist of Zagreb-based Večernji list wrote that Thompson sent the audience into a complete frenzy with this song: "The ground at the Hippodrome literally shook... Everyone was ecstatic. People were jumping like crazy to Čavoglave..."

Linta reminded that one of the lyrics from the song goes: "Listen, Serb volunteers, you Chetnik gang, our hand will reach you even in Serbia!"

"During the three-hour concert, Thompson performed several songs glorifying Ustashism. According to Croatian media, the audience reacted enthusiastically to the song Geni kameni, in which Thompson expresses regret over the fall of the NDH," Linta said.

He pointed out that in the song Slike Blajburga / Bleiburg Images, Thompson equates Ustashas with the Croatian army, while the song Moj Ivane is dedicated to Ustasha units during the battle for Kupres in 1942 against the Partisans.

"In the song Reci brate moj, Thompson praises the Ustasha leader Ante Pavelić, while before and during the concert, part of the euphoric crowd sang the slaughter song Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara, which glorifies the NDH’s death camps and celebrates Ustasha criminals such as Jasenovac commander Maks Luburić, Black Legion commander Jure Francetić, and NDH leader Ante Pavelić," Linta stated.

Israeli Holocaust historian Efraim Zuroff emphasized in an op-ed for The Jerusalem Post that Thompson’s concert in Zagreb is a heinous insult to the victims of the NDH.

For Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović, the main message of Thompson’s concert in Zagreb, where the Ustasha salute "For Homeland -Ready! echoed, is that Croatia is a European country.