Croat football hooligans tear down Serbian flag

ZAGREB A group of Croat football fans have vandalized a municipal headquarters in the town of Krnjak and took down a Serbian flag. The flag was displayed on top of the building in accordance with the law. Croat football hooligans tear down Serbian flag Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader and newly elected Karlovac District Deputy Head Sinisa Ljubojevic has condemned the incident. He told Tanjug that Serbs and their representatives would monitor the situation and see if state institutions would do their work and if the state would publicly and officially condemn the incident. “In the campaign for the European Parliament and especially for the local elections that were held on May 19, football fans realized, after open hate speech by right-wing parties, that they are free to do what they did in Krnjak,” Ljubojevic pointed out. “The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) campaign focused on creation of animosity toward Serbs in certain parts. The incident in Krnjak happened accidentally because the fans were walking down the road next to the municipal building,” he noted and added that such incidents could happen in any other municipality with Serb majority or significant Serb population. “But if there had not been for a political contest in raising national tensions, this would not have happened, especially because the flag has been displayed on the building for about ten years, since the start of the implementation of the constitutional law on ethnic minorities’ rights. This is not just an incident of football fans, it should be seen in a wider context because it reflects an image of a part of the Croatian society,” he added. According to Krnjak Mayor Rade Kosanovic, several locals saw two vans carrying a group of about 20 Hajduk FC fans stop in the town. They were traveling to Zagreb to a Hajduk-Lokomotiva game. After drinking in a local cafe, they noticed the Serbian flag flying over the municipal headquarters. They first tried to reach the flag from the outside but after several unsuccessful attempts, the fans broke the glass door, forced their way into the building, vandalized it and took down the Serbian flag. They broke the flag pole and took the flag with them. Police soon came to the scene and Kosanovic says that the damage to the building is about EUR 1,320. (sxc.hu, file) Tanjug

Croat football hooligans tear down Serbian flag

Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader and newly elected Karlovac District Deputy Head Siniša Ljubojević has condemned the incident.

He told Tanjug that Serbs and their representatives would monitor the situation and see if state institutions would do their work and if the state would publicly and officially condemn the incident.

“In the campaign for the European Parliament and especially for the local elections that were held on May 19, football fans realized, after open hate speech by right-wing parties, that they are free to do what they did in Krnjak,” Ljubojević pointed out.

“The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) campaign focused on creation of animosity toward Serbs in certain parts. The incident in Krnjak happened accidentally because the fans were walking down the road next to the municipal building,” he noted and added that such incidents could happen in any other municipality with Serb majority or significant Serb population.

“But if there had not been for a political contest in raising national tensions, this would not have happened, especially because the flag has been displayed on the building for about ten years, since the start of the implementation of the constitutional law on ethnic minorities’ rights. This is not just an incident of football fans, it should be seen in a wider context because it reflects an image of a part of the Croatian society,” he added.

According to Krnjak Mayor Rade Kosanović, several locals saw two vans carrying a group of about 20 Hajduk FC fans stop in the town. They were traveling to Zagreb to a Hajduk-Lokomotiva game.

After drinking in a local cafe, they noticed the Serbian flag flying over the municipal headquarters.

They first tried to reach the flag from the outside but after several unsuccessful attempts, the fans broke the glass door, forced their way into the building, vandalized it and took down the Serbian flag. They broke the flag pole and took the flag with them.

Police soon came to the scene and Kosanović says that the damage to the building is about EUR 1,320.