Croatian Army Petitioned to Adopt Fascist Slogan

The official coat of arms of the wartime Croatian Defence Froces, which includes the ‘Za dom spremni’ slogan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The petition urging legal changes ensuring that the Croatian Army uses the chant ‘Za dom spremni’ (‘Ready for the homeland’) at military parades was sent on Monday to Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and the leader of the centre-right opposition Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ party.

The ‘Za dom spremni’ slogan was introduced and used by the Nazi-aligned Independent State of Croatia during WWII, particularly by the notorious elite volunteer units of the Ustasa movement.

Grabar Kitarovic immediately rejected the proposal.

“The initiative is irresponsible, unacceptable and on the level of a provocation,” her office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The organisers claimed that the petition was signed by some well-known public figures, academics, Catholic bishops, academics, former politicians and professional athletes.

The best-known is Australian-born Josip Simunic, a recently-retired footballer who played for the Croatian national team and chanted ‘Za dom spremni’ along with the crowd at a World Cup qualifier against Iceland in Zagreb in November 2013.

Football’s world governing body FIFA gave Simunic a ten-game suspension and 24,500 euro fine in December 2013, effectively ending his international career with the Croatian team.

The organisers of the petition claim however that the chant is actually an old Croatian salute and that by introducing it into the army, the country’s culture and tradition would be preserved.

The idea of introducing it in the Croatian army was first initiated earlier this month on Facebook by the former commander of the wartime defence of the town of Vukovar in 1991, Branko Borkovic, alias ‘Little Hawk’.

‘Za dom spremni’ is still used by Croatian far-right groups and football fans, can also be heard on other occasions such as concerts and public protests. The chant is used along with the classic Nazi salute.

The best-known example is the Croatian nationalist singer Marko Perkovic Thompson, whose popular 1990s war song ‘Cavoglave’, starts with the chant.

The slogan was widely chanted when Thompson played to a packed crowd earlier this month in the town of Knin during the 20th anniversary celebrations of Croatia’s military victory in Operation Storm.

Although police can file criminal or misdemeanour charges for public use of the chant, legal loopholes exist.

The association representing former members of the 1990s paramilitary unit called the Croatian Defence Forces, which was later integrated into the Croatian Army, uses the slogan in its legal coat of arms, flag and seal.