The head of the Jewish Community of Zagreb, Ognjen Kraus, on Monday called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to finally see to it that a law was adopted to ban Ustasha symbols and insignia.

Speaking at a conference on education about the Holocaust, held on the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism and the 82nd anniversary of the ‘Kristallnacht’ pogrom, Kraus called on the government to finally match their words by deeds.

He noted that the ruling HDZ party controlled the parliamentary majority together with ethnic minorities and that it had got rid of the right as well as nationalist and pro-Ustasha groups which had prevented the adoption of the laws most Croatian citizens, ethnic minorities and antifascist Europe had expected it to adopt.

As for recommendations by the government-appointed commission on undemocratic regimes regarding the use of the Ustasha salute “For the homeland ready”, Kraus said that they were constantly abused, including at state-level commemorations even though steps forward had been made with regard to the Serb ethnic minority in the context of the Homeland War and the approach to commemorations.

“I have been repeating for years that actions speak louder than words, you have a unique opportunity to finally adopt a law banning the use of insignia and symbols of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH),” said Kraus.

In a message to the prime minister, Kraus said that his offer of cooperation, extended on April 22, when they attended a joint commemoration for the victims of the World War II Ustasha-run concentration camp of Jasenovac, still stood but that he was waiting for Plenkovic to reciprocate while time was running fast.

Kraus said that Plenkovic had made his position clear, claiming that he had reformed the HDZ into a modern, centre-right party that had rid itself of the burden of the extreme nationalist Ustasha-loving appendage, and had formed his government with ethnic minorities, including the Roma and Serbs who together with Jews had been liquidated under the NDH’s racial laws.

Kraus called on the prime minister to table a proposal to the parliament speaker to call a parliamentary session on the matter and pass the relevant law, as was done by European countries like Austria and Germany long ago.

He expressed confidence the law would be carried by a two-thirds majority if Plenkovic’s party and ethnic minorities backed it.