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A modern follower of the Ustasha with a portrait of the leader of the Croatian collaborators of the times of the Second World War A. Pavelitch.
Glorification of the Ustashe – Croatian Nazi collaborators – is fairly widespread in Croatia. Media reports numerous cases of graffiti with their symbols across Croatian cities.
On December 28, a solemn ceremony dedicated to the 55th anniversary since the death of Dictator Ante Pavelic was held in Zagreb.
On December 31, the Mass was condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which said: “It is hard to believe that in the centre of the capital of a EU member-state, two steps away from the Jewish community of Zagreb, hundreds of people have gathered to commemorate the murdered of hundreds of thousands of people.” Head of the Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Efraim Zuroff called this ceremony “an insult to memory of hundreds of thousands of innocent victims” and “a shame for the Catholic church”.
Some members of the Catholic Church in Croatia continue to show sympathy for the Ustaše. Noteworthy in this regard are the speeches of Bishop V. Kosic in Sisak, in which he stated that the collaborators are "fighters for freedom and independence." Attempts to canonize Archbishop A. Stepinac of Zagreb, who was convicted for collaborating with the Ustashe regime of A. Pavelic during the pro-Nazi Independent State of Croatia, do not stop either. So, on February 6, 2020, this issue was once again raised by the Prime Minister of Croatia A. Plenkovic during a meeting with Pope Francis.
