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ZAGREB, Croatia -- A concert by right-wing singer Marko Perkovic, notorious for his perceived sympathy for Croatia's World War II pro-Nazi puppet regime, has drawn tens of thousands of his fans to Zagreb on Saturday.
Some 450,000 are expected to be in attendance at the Hippodrome later in the evening, the biggest concert in Croatia's history, according to the police, viewed as a major security challenge.
Perkovic, also known as Thompson, has been banned from performing in some European cities over frequent pro-Nazi displays at his gigs, but he remains hugely popular in Croatia, frequently attending rallies and sports events.
Organizers said any display of any hate-fueling insignia is strictly banned at Saturday's concert.
Some fans were seen wrapped in Croatian flags while others wore black Thompson-inscribed T-shirts.
“See you at Hippodrome,” Perkovic wrote on Facebook. “Take care of each other.”
In Zagreb, a city of nearly 700,000 people, the event has been virtually blocked and traffic suspended in various areas days before the event. Authorities deployed thousands of police officers and set up a special control center and a field hospital.
The state-owned HRT television said snipers were guarding the venue and helicopters were flying above as visitors streamed in.
Some fans told The Associated Press they expected good fun and were happy to be at such an event gathering so many Croats in one place.
“Thompson is a patriot. He does not insult anyone, he loves everybody," said Ivica from eastern Croatia, who gave only his first name.
But not everyone was pleased.
Former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor wrote an angry post on X, criticizing how “the state and the city have been put in service of one man.”
“Thrill and excitement as fans at downtown Zagreb already sing songs from the era of the criminal state,” Kosor wrote on X. “No media are reporting about that.”
Croatia’s WWII Ustasha regime ran concentration camps where tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croats were brutally executed.
Some of Perkovic’s songs include the Ustasha salute, punishable by law in Croatia, and other references to the pro-Nazi regime. S ome Croatian nationalists view the leaders of the Ustasha regime as the country’s founders despite the recorded atrocities.
Perkovic first became popular during a bloody 1991-95 ethnic war that erupted after Croatia declared independence from former Yugoslavia, in which he fought.
Nicknamed “Thompson” after an antique machine gun he carried in the war, Perkovic has claimed that his songs only celebrate Croatia's victory in that war and its independence.
Index news portal posted video footage Saturday of some fans performing the Ustasha salute in Zagreb before the concert.
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