Hundreds of supporters of the Torcida fan group gathered on the Split waterfront on Saturday to protest the arrest of masked men accused of storming an event marking Serbian Culture Days earlier this week.
The rally, authorised by Split’s HDZ mayor Tomislav Šuta, drew a heavy police presence, with riot units deployed across the city centre. Witnesses said around 1,000 protesters marched in a column to the Riva promenade, chanting and displaying a large banner reading “With heroes to the grave.”
The protest came a day after a group of 50 to 100 masked men assembled outside the Serbian Cultural Centre in Zagreb, where the Serbian Culture Days opened with an exhibition dedicated to historian Dejan Medaković. The crowd sang nationalist songs, including “O Hrvatska, o Hrvatska, nezavisna država” (“Oh Croatia, oh Croatia, independent state”) before being dispersed by police.
Zagreb’s mayor, Tomislav Tomašević, condemned the incident, saying that “tonight in Zagreb, the NDH (Independent State of Croatia) was being celebrated,” referring to the Nazi-aligned regime during World War Two.
Following the incidents in both cities, Croatia’s government announced it would introduce “special measures” to prevent further disturbances. Interior Minister Davor Božinović said the Torcida protest did not require prior approval, despite legal provisions suggesting otherwise.
Former prime minister Jadranka Kosor warned on social media that the unrest reflected “the ripening of the dark fruits of double standards and unconstitutionality.”
Events marking Serbian Culture Days in Split were disrupted on Monday when masked men entered the venue, prompting police arrests and renewed debate about nationalist extremism in Croatia.