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From allegations of war crime denial to the use of Nazi-era chants, members of Croatia’s Homeland Movement have been at the center of numerous far-right controversies in the country.
Now they are poised to form a new government along with the ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), after a polarizing election in April and contentious coalition negotiations.
Incumbent Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced in a tweet on X Thursday afternoon that the necessary 76 signatures had been collected to form a “new and stable” government.
The Homeland Movement — or DP — was formed by nationalist crooner Miroslav Škoro in 2020 to provide a more patriotic and far-right alternative to HDZ, arguably Croatia’s most powerful party, which underwent major restructuring under Plenković.
“Plenković made a significant effort to expel and neutralize far-right figures from HDZ, but now a lot of those who were affiliated with HDZ are part of the Homeland Movement,” Hrvoje Klasić, a historian and expert on the far right in Croatia, told POLITICO.
Škoro has since been ousted from the party, and while DP members claim to have softened their approach to certain topics, the party remains synonymous with hardline, socially conservative ideas.
“A lot of the voters who used to support HDZ now vote for the Homeland Movement. If, say, Plenković was removed and someone more right-wing came back to HDZ, then the Homeland Movement would completely lose its support,” he continued.
Plenković — just like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — has, since April’s election, placed himself on his HZD’s list of candidates for June’s EU election, ostensibly to rally support for the party.
Others fear Plenković could accept a mandate in Brussels following the June ballot, leaving Croatian politics bereft of his moderating influence.
The Homeland Movement’s main support comes from eastern Croatia, in the region of Slavonia and the city of Vukovar, places that were heavily affected by the 1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence.
“Their voter base saw significant fighting during the war and the local population still hasn’t fully dealt with the past,” Klasić said.
This — coupled with historical revisionism, ongoing debates that DP is likely to exploit — has stirred concern among certain segments of the population regarding the new coalition.
“The Homeland Movement happily uses certain sentiments in Croatia to their advantage when talking about history and the war, as well as wanting a stronger influence of the Catholic Church, traditional family values, LGBT rights and anti-abortion policies,” Klasić concluded.
Many on the left had hoped that firebrand President Zoran Milanović, whose Social Democratic Party placed second in the elections, would manage to cobble together a coalition and oust the HDZ from power.
Since the April elections, complaints have grown that the way electoral districts are drawn in Croatia — as well as a system allocating more seats to larger parties in order to reduce political fragmentation — gives an unfair advantage to right-wing and far-right parties.
