The announced protest of the fan group Torcida and the veterans’ association, which has attracted great public attention in Croatia, as well as in Serbia, will soon begin on the Split Riva.
Croatian media report that the gathering has been officially reported and approved by the City of Split, and according to announcements, it should start around 11 o’clock.
As reported by Index.hr, about 1,000 participants gathered on the Riva, while an increased police presence is also visible, monitoring the situation to ensure public order and peace. There are representatives of veterans, Torcida fans, and Thompson’s songs are being played from the loudspeaker.
A banner was also unfolded:
– With heroes, to the grave!
Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović announced that the usher services will be maximally engaged and ready to react to any eventual violation of the law.
The organizers of the protest state that the gathering is being held as an expression of dissatisfaction after recent events in the Split neighborhood of Blatine and the arrest of several people. As they point out, it is a “message of support for those detained” and “defense of the dignity of fans and veterans.”
On the other hand, a part of the citizens of Split who do not support the gathering called on their fellow citizens to a counter-protest under the motto “Today everyone in white,” with the aim of sending a message of peace and tolerance. Numerous Split residents joined the action, including Member of Parliament in the Sabor Marijana Puljak, who hung a white flag on her balcony.
Let’s recall, during Friday, tensions surrounding the holding of the “Day of Serbian Culture” spilled over from Split into Zagreb as well. After the incident on Monday, when a group of masked men broke in and interrupted the event in the Blatine City District, the situation further escalated.
As reported by Index.hr, on Friday evening a group of masked men also appeared in Zagreb, estimated to be between 50 and 100, believed to be members of the Bad Blue Boys. They gathered in front of the Serbian Cultural Center in Preradovićeva Street, where an exhibition opening was taking place as part of the Day of Serbian Culture. The masked young men sang fan songs like: “O Croatia, O Croatia, independent state” and “Call, just call, all the falcons will give their life for you.”
Before that, in Split, in the premises of the Blatine City District in Split, a serious incident occurred yesterday during the marking of the Day of Serbian Culture, organized by the Serbian Cultural Society “Prosvjeta”. The manifestation was interrupted after, according to eyewitness testimonies, about 50 men dressed in black broke into the hall and interrupted the program of the Day of Serbian Culture and the Cultural Artistic Society (KUD) from Novi Sad, saying that it “cannot be held during the marking of the fall of Vukovar.”
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Source: Index, Photo: Index