While other countries export cars, gadgets and industrial products, Croatia exports conservative activism.
The German daily “Frankfurter Rundschau” published on Thursday a report on the protests of Catholic activists associated with the U Ime Obitelji (In the name of family) association from Croatia near a Frankfurt family guidance centre, as well as about counter-protests by progressive activists, reports Jutarnji List on March 16, 2017.
The article titled “Croatian Style Fundamentalism” by Daniel Majić discusses the protests organized by the German Association for Christian Culture (DVCK) in front of branches of the organization for family counselling Pro Familia in Frankfurt.
The organizer of the “prayer guard” is said to be attorney of Croatian origin Tomislav Čunović, who is involved with the Frankfurt branch of the U Ime Obitelji association and took part in the promotion of the controversial film by director Jakov Sedlar “Jasenovac – The Truth” in Germany.
The conservative U Ime Obitelji non-governmental association strongly opposes abortion, which is legal in Croatia according to the law from 1978. In Croatia, Catholic activists are regularly holding prayer vigils in front of hospitals, trying to discourage pregnant women from having abortions.
The article also mentions counter-protests by progressive activists who on the International Women’s Day gathered near the conservative activists in Frankfurt, throwing confetti and firecrackers and taking part in “satanic rituals”. The police were present but did not intervene because it was assessed that there were no violations of the law.
Representatives of the Pro Familia counselling organization, which was founded in the 1950s, do not want to take action against the conservative protesters. “Although it is not nice for women who come to us for advice to see something like this, we do not deny them the right to protest”, said a spokeswoman for the association.
In Croatia, U Ime Obitelji NGO collected signatures for a successful referendum held in December 2013 on the adoption of a constitutional amendment which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, effectively barring the possibility of gay marriages ever being legally recognized.
