Far-right politics in Croatia () refers to any manifestation of far-right politics in the Republic of Croatia. Individuals and groups in Croatia that employ far-right politics are most often associated with the historical Ustaše movement, hence they have connections to Neo-Nazism and neo-fascism. That World War II political movement was an extremist organization at the time supported by the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists. The association with the Ustaše has been called "Neo-Ustashism" by Slavko Goldstein.
The common perception is that the far right includes people who were either involved with the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II; sympathizers; and people who utilise their symbolism. The far right mainly arose from a combination of the residual hatred from the Yugoslav wars and Croatian nationalism.
Pro-Ustaša symbols and actions have been restricted by law in Croatia since 2003. The most common venue for expressing these beliefs is graffiti.
Background
The Ustaše was a Croatian right-wing ultranationalist movement founded in 1929 by Ante Pavelić. After the establishment of the 6 January Dictatorship by Alexander I of Yugoslavia, Pavelić fled to Italy where he set up his organization's headquarters. Prior to World War II the Ustaše functioned as a paramilitary and terrorist organization, as it sought the separation of Croatia from Yugoslavia into an independent state through violent means. Notably, it was involved in the assassination of King Alexander in 1934 with the assistance of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). The Ustaše however lacked broad support due to its radical and violent nature. When Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, its territories were occupied by German, Italian and Hungarian forces. A German puppet-state, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was established and ruled by Pavelić and the Ustaše. During the Second World War, the Ustaše conducted genocide against Serbs, Roma and Jews within their borders. The Jasenovac concentration camp was a notorious death camp where extermination of these groups took place. After the war ended, many of the Ustaše fled to safety abroad in countries like Argentina and Spain. In 1957 Pavelić was wounded after an assassination attempt on him and died two years later from his injuries.
Several far-right political parties in Croatia trace their roots to Ante Starčević and view the Independent State of Croatia as a legitimate foundational state. Most openly declare their affiliation with the Ustaše. Across the right-wing spectrum, various common themes emerge with varying degrees of which include the desire for a Greater Croatia, a negative stance towards the ICTY, anti-Serbianism, positive view of the NDH and negative attitudes towards NATO and the European Union.
Za dom spremni ("Ready for the Homeland") was the WWII fascist salute used by the Ustaše and is considered to be the equivalent of the Nazi German Sieg heil. In some elements of Croatian society there is a narrative that claims the usage of the greeting predates the Ustaše, a claim that is rejected by the scholarly consensus. Since Croatia's independence, the salute has become "re-popularized" through public discourse by the right-wing.
Croatian far right during Yugoslavia
At the end of World War II, the Communist authorities pursued a strict set of policies which could be deemed as a form of denazification, only more similar to the Soviet style than to the American style. People who collaborated with the Ustaše were often court-martialled at the end of the war, and there were extrajudicial killings of collaborationist troops in the Bleiburg repatriations. Trials against suspected collaborators continued long after the end of the war. In the 1980s, Andrija Artuković was extradited to Yugoslavia from the United States, and prosecuted in SR Croatia where he died in a prison hospital. The secret service exercised harsh control over both citizens with links to the Ustaše and mere Croatian nationalists. UDBA continuously monitored the Croatian diaspora, and was implicated in numerous assassinations, notably that of Bruno Bušić in 1978.
In the aftermath of WWII, a guerrilla/terrorist anti-communist and Croatian nationalist insurgency group, the Crusaders, formed, and carried out terrorist acts against the new multi-ethnic communist state. Between 1962 and 1982, Croatian nationalist groups carried out 128 terror attacks against Yugoslav civilian and military targets; notably it bombed a JAT plane killing 27 people in 1972. All of these groups operated outside of Yugoslavia, given the Yugoslav regime's consolidation of power which made it difficult for them to operate inside the country.