Latest news with #Nazi-allied
France 24
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- France 24
Nazi-sympathising singer's huge gig to paralyse Zagreb
A dozen hospitals have been put on alert to brace for a surge in demand during the Thompson concert on Saturday, while thousands of police will be deployed to manage the influx into a city already hosting summer tourists. A field hospital with 200 beds will also be set up near the racecourse venue and fans have been warned to prepare for summer heat. Marko Perkovic, known by his stage name Thompson, has been banned from performing in several countries due to his sympathies with Croatia's World War II fascist Ustasha regime. Ustasha symbols are common at Thompson concerts, and he begins one of the most popular songs by screaming a fascist slogan infamously used by the Nazi-allied regime. -'People adore him'- The concert sold out in just a few days in April, with a third of his fans under 28, according to the ticketing platform Entrio. Police said there would be at least 450,000 people at Croatia's biggest concert. "People adore him, due to his patriotic songs and affection for Croatia," 22-year-old Nikola, who did not give his family name, told AFP ahead of the concert. The student ignores the Ustasha shouts from Thompson and said it just reflects the "wartime" era in which the song was recorded. "I was not even born when it was released." A folk-rock icon of Croatia's right-wing, Thompson first became popular for his nationalist songs in the 1990s during the country's war of independence. But his manager, Zdravko Barisic, told local media that it was "inappropriate" to accuse him of Ustasha sympathies and that he was hosting a "concert, not a political rally". Zagreb's left-wing mayor, Tomislav Tomsic, rejected earlier calls to ban the performance, saying they were "counter-productive". -'Patriotic charge'- In recent years, Croatia has seen a growing tolerance for its pro-Nazi past and critics accuse authorities of failing to sanction the use of Ustasha emblems. The Ustasha persecuted and killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, anti-fascist Croatians, Roma and others in concentration camps during World War II. But historian Hrvoje Klasic told AFP that the singer's popularity does not reflect an increasing support for far-right movements in mainstream society. The vast majority of fans perceive Thompson as a "patriot, presenting traditional values like homeland, religion, family", Klasic told AFP. "Croatian society traditionally leans slightly to the right, with a patriotic charge."
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Home of Italy's last fascist government scraps honorary citizenship for Mussolini
By Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) - A small town on Italy's Lake Garda that was home to Italy's last fascist government voted late on Wednesday to cancel an honorary citizenship for Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was Italy's leader from 1922 to 1943, but he also led a Nazi-allied administration limited to the north of the country in 1943-1945, which was headquartered in Salo. The town, along with a large number of other Italian municipalities, granted honorary citizenship to Mussolini during the early years of his regime. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Salo's local council, held by a left-leaning administration, voted by a 12-3 margin in favour of scrapping the symbolic title, after two other failed attempts in recent years. "Nobody wants to cancel a historic fact ... but we want to add a new page with strong symbolic value" and show that Mussolini has no place in today's Italy, Mayor Francesco Cagnini said. Right-wing opposition councillor Erminia Bonfanti retorted that the initiative against a dictator who had been dead for 80 years was "a useless and senseless battle against a ghost". There is no official record of how many Italian towns and cities still count Mussolini as an honorary citizen, but there are at least several hundred. A left-wing bastion such as Bologna is among them. On the other hand, Mussolini's citizenship was cancelled in Florence in 2009, in Turin in 2014 and in Pisa in 2017. The legacy of fascism remains a controversial topic in Italy, where fringe far-right groups, often mixed with soccer hooligans, continue to glorify the long-dead regime. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, 48, was a Mussolini sympathiser in her youth, but she has sought to make her Brothers of Italy party more mainstream and considers herself a national conservative.
