How Xenophobia is Normalized in Croatia

Step by step, the boundaries of acceptable behavior towards those different from the majority are slowly being erased in Croatia. This week, the policy of appeasement on that path resulted in a sad event in Split, where several dozen masked individuals took matters into their own hands and interrupted the cultural-folklore program of the Day of Serbian Culture, which only interested a small group of people who organized it.

However, the Croatian reality is that no one should be surprised by such events anymore.

After the so-called summer of prohibition, which was accompanied by threatening graffiti directed at writer Miljenko Jergović in Zagreb and preceded by Thompson’s concert in Zagreb with the shout ZDS, autumn does not seem much better.

First, a round table was organized in the Parliament by the Domino and Croatian Sovereignists parties, questioning the nature of the camp in Jasenovac.

This week, the association For a Better Croatia announced a protest against foreign workers on Split’s Riva for Sunday. On the association’s pages, T-shirts with the bizarre message ‘Stop Ethnic Replacement of Croats’ can be purchased, and on its social media, messages such as ‘Deportation for Migrants’ and ‘The idea is important, it mobilizes the masses’ can be seen.

And the association Our Job, Our Future, led by former Split DP member Martin Pauk, has been slowly spreading propaganda on social media and jumbo–posters primarily directed against Chinese companies for some time now.

Considering that the DP of Split-Dalmatia County, led by Marko Žaja, special advisor to the Minister of Tourism Tonči Glavina, supported the individuals who interrupted the cultural-folklore program of the Serbian national minority in Split, it is evident that xenophobia and politicization are common to these events. Regardless of what anyone says, these acts do not protect Croatian culture and do not economically benefit anyone.

National minority associations cannot be blamed for the victims in the Homeland War and cannot threaten the culture of the dominant people in the state, and foreign workers and foreign companies did not drive Croatian citizens abroad. The rule of law is the minimum guarantee of a good modern state, and therefore sharp condemnations from politics and the message from Andrej Plenković that there is no place for the law of the street in Croatia are welcome.

Understandably, the Prime Minister persistently denies any contribution to creating such an atmosphere as he defends his political actions and the fact that he pays the price of cooperation with those who profit from such events for the desired political stability. We will see whether Plenković’s statement will be followed by actions and what those actions will be. He determines the modality of political cooperation in the coalition.