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- Controversial right-wing singer Marko Perkovic draws tens of thousands to Zagreb concert</p>
<p>July 5, 2025 at 11:32 PM</p>
<p>1 / 3Croatia ConcertFans arrive for the concert of right-wing singer Marko Perkovic, known as Thompson in Zagreb, Croatia, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo)</p>
<p>ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A concert by right-wing singer Marko Perkovic, notorious for his perceived sympathy for Croatia's World War II pro-Nazi puppet regime, has drawn tens of thousands of his fans to Zagreb on Saturday.</p>
<p>Some 450,000 are expected to be in attendance at the Hippodrome later in the evening, the biggest concert in Croatia's history, according to the police, viewed as a major security challenge.</p>
<p>Perkovic, also known as Thompson, has been banned from performing in some European cities over frequent pro-Nazi displays at his gigs, but he remains hugely popular in Croatia, frequently attending rallies and sports events.</p>
<p>Organizers said any display of any hate-fueling insignia is strictly banned at Saturday's concert.</p>
<p>Some fans were seen wrapped in Croatian flags while others wore black Thompson-inscribed T-shirts.</p>
<p>"See you at Hippodrome," Perkovic wrote on Facebook. "Take care of each other."</p>
<p>In Zagreb, a city of nearly 700,000 people, the event has been virtually blocked and traffic suspended in various areas days before the event. Authorities deployed thousands of police officers and set up a special control center and a field hospital.</p>
<p>The state-owned HRT television said snipers were guarding the venue and helicopters were flying above as visitors streamed in.</p>
<p>Some fans told The they expected good fun and were happy to be at such an event gathering so many Croats in one place.</p>
<p>"Thompson is a patriot. He does not insult anyone, he loves everybody," said Ivica from eastern Croatia, who gave only his first name.</p>
<p>But not everyone was pleased.</p>
<p>Former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor wrote an angry post on X, criticizing how "the state and the city have been put in service of one man."</p>
<p>"Thrill and excitement as fans at downtown Zagreb already sing songs from the era of the criminal state," Kosor wrote on X. "No media are reporting about that."</p>
<p>Croatia's WWII Ustasha regime ran concentration camps where tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croats were brutally executed.</p>
<p>Some of Perkovic's songs include the Ustasha salute, punishable by law in Croatia, and other references to the pro-Nazi regime. S ome Croatian nationalists view the leaders of the Ustasha regime as the country's founders despite the recorded atrocities.</p>
<p>Perkovic first became popular during a bloody 1991-95 ethnic war that erupted after Croatia declared independence from former Yugoslavia, in which he fought.</p>
<p>Nicknamed "Thompson" after an antique machine gun he carried in the war, Perkovic has claimed that his songs only celebrate Croatia's victory in that war and its independence.</p>
<p>Index news portal posted video footage Saturday of some fans performing the Ustasha salute in Zagreb before the concert.</p>
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