In the 1990s, the development of a democratic media system in Croatia was slow as many media were under direct state influence and hate speech was very prevalent and supported by the state. This contrast the number of laws enacted across Europe that have gradually extended provision against racist expression in the 1990s (Bleich 22). Croatia did not experience such provisions and media regulation until the 2000s when Croatia tried to further harmonize its media legislation with European standards. However, in 2016, when a new right-wing party the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) entered the government and elected Zlatko Hasanbegovic as culture minister responsible for media policy, the media legislation that guaranteed freedom of expression during the 2000s began to worsen with political purges, such as Hasanbegovic firing 70 journalists, managers and technicians of HDZ in less than two months, and hate speech back on the rise again especially against minorities or diverse groups as a result of nationalist sentiment that has been provoked by the HDZ. This is similar to Jean-Marie Le Pen, a far-right nationalist, asserting his belief that races are unequal and promoting the use of hate and racist speeches against minorities and diverse groups. HDZ turning a blind eye to hate speech and neo-fascist nostalgia and its support for freedom of speech, resembles France’s minimizing the Holocaust and expressing sympathy for the Nazi regime that has sparked due to Le Pen (Bleich 33).
Croatia’s, since Croatia’s EU accession in 2013, has enacted laws against the denial or diminishment of genocide crimes. This resembles Bleich’s assertion that some countries have extended the logic of of Holocaust denial laws by instituting provisions against denying any genocide, war crime (Bleich 44). However, the HDZ have turned a blind eye to neo-fascist nostalgia, allowing hate speech to thrive and has failed to enforce legislation prohibiting public denial, belittlement or condoning of genocide crimes. This also resembles Bleich’s assertion that freedom of speech that is not compatible with the core principle of liberal democracy allows for the laws goals to diminish Holocaust denial, minimization, and justification to be acceptable (Bleich 44-45). The Croatian Jewish Community in Croatia has gone so far as to the boycotted Holocaust Remembrance Day in protest due to the government’s failure to fight the lack of regulation of past and modern-day Nazism.
Freedom of assembly in Croatia is recognized as human right to every person in the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia. However, with the far-right rising in Croatia, there has been a rise of radical right groups, such as HDZ, supporting the Holocaust denial and glorification of its fascist past. This group still remain in Croatia’s political life similarly to how Neo-Nazi parties and white supremacist groups cannot be banned, restricted, or forced to accept unwanted members on the grounds of their racism in the US (Bleich 103).
Croatia and Russia established diplomatic relationships in 1992. Croatia has an embassy in Moscow just as Russia has an embassy in Zagreb. Croatia’s right of center president Grabar-Kitarovic has been accused of Croatian ultranationalism. Grabar-Kitarovic has accordingly openly associated herself with Utasha sympathizers and has engaged with hard-right voters. However, she has declared the far-right in her country as marginal. Grabar-Kitarvoic has also created warm relations with Putin, in which she has defended. The Croatian far-right parties such as HDZ and the President have begun to create and experience deeper ties with through deals with Russian companies such as Gazpom and Sberbank and a call for the expansion of cooperation between Moscow and Zagreb. Grabar-Kitarvoic has stated, “”It is necessary to continue political dialogue. Our economic interests are another important part of cooperation. We support the development of new markets for Croatia’s economy and Croatian companies. Of course, Croatia adheres to all European regulations as well as the sanctions system but we are working on a broad field and Russia is a strong player in particular in south-eastern Europe.” Many Croatians also sympathize with Ukraine from their similar experiences of the Yugoslav wars. With Russia establishing peaceful ties with Croatia, it so far has been successful in its engagement with Croatia’s parties and politics.
Work Cited
Blakemore, Erin. “Why Croatian Jews Boycotted This Year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.” Smithsonian.com. January 27, 2017. Accessed November 17, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-croatian-jews-boycotted-years-holocaust-remembrance-day-180961958/.
Bleich, Erik. The Freedom to Be Racist?: How the United States and Europe Struggle to Preserve Freedom and Combat Racism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011.
MacDowall, Andrew. “Croatia’s President Says Country’s Far-right Presence Is ‘exception, Not Rule’.” The Guardian. August 26, 2018. Accessed November 17, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/26/croatias-president-says-far-right-presence-there-is-exception-not-rule.
Pastor, Ana. “Croatia’s Press Freedom in Danger.” CIVIC IDEAS. December 03, 2017. Accessed November 19, 2018. https://civicidea.com/2017/02/23/croatias-press-freedom-in-danger/.
“Press Freedom in Croatia: Hate Speech and Hope for Change.” Croatia Report Final, May 2018, 1-32. Accessed November 19, 2018. https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/croatia-report-final_0.pdf.
I thought you did a really good job explaining Croatia’s path towards anti-hate speech laws and how Croatia differs from a lot of other European countries, especially before they were a part of the EU. The comparison to France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen was very helpful in developing your argument more and truly shows Croatia’s current events regarding media and speech freedoms. I think expanding on how Croatia is getting closer to Russia but also sympathizes with Ukraine because of similar experiences would be very interesting and could show a lot of the development occurring in Croatian politics and relationships between the countries being discussed, as well as how this plays into Croatia in the EU.