Croatian president urges national reconciliation

ZAGREB, Croatia – Croatia’s president has made an appeal for reconciliation between right and left-wing supporters for the sake of the future of EU’s newest member state.

A TV address by Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, on Monday on the occasion of the Victory Day, comes amid deep divisions in Croatia which was ruled by a pro-Nazi regime during World War II and Yugoslav communists until gaining independence in the 1990s.

Kitarovic says Croatia faces “an escalation of intolerance, hate speech and glorification of destroyed criminal regimes,” referring to both the Nazis and Communists. She says the current divisions “destroy the foundations of the state.”

Croatia’s new right-wing government has been accused of turning a blind eye to the surge of the far right and contributing to a surge of fascist sentiment in Croatia.