A hugely popular Croatian singer and a massive crowd of hundreds of thousands of fans openly performed a pro-Nazi World War II salute at a concert in the nation’s capital, sparking controversy.

Croatian Singer and Hundreds of Thousands of Fans Use Pro-Nazi Salute at Massive Zagreb Concert

ZAGREB, Croatia – In a stunning and deeply controversial display of nationalist fervor, hugely popular right-wing Croatian singer Marko Perkovic led a massive crowd, estimated in the hundreds of thousands, in a pro-Nazi salute during a concert in the nation’s capital. The event, which sent shockwaves through the region, has ignited a firestorm over the mainstreaming of far-right ideology and the public tolerance of fascist symbolism in a modern European state.

Key Points:

• A massive concert in Zagreb featured controversial right-wing singer Marko Perkovic.
• The crowd was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, with one report citing 300,000 attendees.
• Both Perkovic and his fans were seen performing a pro-Nazi World War II salute during the event.
• The incident has sparked widespread controversy and accusations that the government condones such displays.
• Despite the provocative nature of the event, official reports indicated no major incidents occurred.

The Scene in Zagreb: A Sea of Nationalism

The heart of Zagreb was transformed into a sea of humanity, a gathering of a scale rarely seen for a single musical artist. Hundreds of thousands of fans, a crowd size that would rival any major international festival, converged to see Marko Perkovic. But this was no ordinary concert. As the music swelled, so did a chilling, coordinated gesture: the stiff-armed salute of the World War II pro-Nazi regime. Eyewitness accounts and subsequent media reports confirmed that Perkovic himself, the man on stage, participated in the salute, unifying him with the vast audience in a shared, toxic display.

The symbolism is impossible to ignore. This salute is not a mere wave or a casual sign; it is the globally recognized emblem of fascism, a gesture inextricably linked to the Ustase, Croatia’s WWII-era fascist movement, and their Nazi allies. For this symbol to be resurrected and celebrated so openly, by so many, in the capital city, raises deeply troubling questions about the nation’s confrontation with its own history. Curiously, despite the incendiary nature of the display and the sheer size of the crowd, authorities reported no major incidents. This lack of disruption, however, does not signify peace. Instead, it suggests a chilling consensus within the massive gathering, a shared ideology that faced no significant public opposition on the ground that day.

The Man at the Center: Who is Marko Perkovic?

Marko Perkovic, known by the stage name ‘Thompson’ after the submachine gun he used during the Croatian War of Independence, is not a fringe figure. He is, by all accounts, “hugely popular.” His ability to draw a crowd of 300,000 people speaks to a deep and wide-reaching influence within Croatian society. Yet, he is also described as intensely “controversial” and explicitly “right-wing.” His music is often infused with nationalist themes that critics argue glorify a painful and divisive past.

Perkovic is more than a singer; he is a cultural and political phenomenon. He represents a powerful strain of thought that seeks to recast Croatia’s history, sanitize the crimes of its past fascist regime, and promote an aggressive, ethno-nationalist identity. For his followers, he is a patriot, a defender of Croatian values. For his critics, he is a dangerous revisionist who provides the soundtrack for a modern far-right movement. His willingness to openly engage in pro-Nazi symbolism at the peak of his popularity is not a gaffe; it is a declaration. It cements his status as a central figure in the culture wars that continue to haunt Croatia and the wider Balkan region.

A Ghost of History: The Salute’s Dark Legacy

To understand the gravity of the Zagreb concert, one must understand the history the salute represents. The gesture is a direct callback to Croatia’s “then government was full on fascist regime,” as one online commentator noted. During World War II, the Independent State of Croatia, led by the Ustase, was a puppet state of Nazi Germany. This regime was responsible for the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Roma, as well as the persecution of political opponents. The concentration camps they operated, most notoriously Jasenovac, were sites of unimaginable brutality.

When Marko Perkovic and his fans raise that arm, they are not simply making a political statement. They are actively invoking the memory of that murderous regime. They are signaling an affinity with an ideology that championed racial purity and political violence. In a continent still grappling with the legacy of the Holocaust and the devastation of World War II, such a public display is a profound offense to the memory of the victims and a threat to the democratic values Europe claims to uphold. It is a deliberate act of provocation designed to test the limits of public tolerance and to normalize symbols that should have been confined to the darkest chapters of history books.

A Nation’s Silence? Government Condonement Alleged

The sight of 300,000 people performing a Nazi salute in a European capital immediately raises a critical question: Where was the state? How could an event of this nature, promoting this type of symbolism, be allowed to proceed? The lack of an immediate and forceful official condemnation has led to sharp criticism. The sentiment was captured by a social media user who argued, “Today’s government, obviously, condones this since they let 300,000 people do a nazi salute.”

This accusation of official complicity, whether through active support or passive indifference, hangs heavy in the air. While the source material provides no official government statements, the absence of a response is, in itself, a powerful message. In politics, silence is rarely neutral. Permitting such a massive gathering, knowing the artist’s history and the likely sentiments of his fanbase, can be interpreted as a tacit endorsement. It creates a permissive environment for extremism, signaling to far-right groups that their ideology is, if not officially sanctioned, at least tolerated. This public controversy now puts the Croatian government under a microscope, with observers at home and abroad demanding to know whether they stand with modern European democratic norms or with the ghosts of their nation’s fascist past. The world is watching to see if any official will have the courage to denounce what hundreds of thousands so openly celebrated.