October the 19th, 2026 – Former Split mayor Ivica Puljak has claimed that Split has been “disgraced” worldwide after the violent clash between Torcida and Ajax.
Former Split mayor Ivica Puljak commented on Torcida’s procession ahead of the Hajduk–Ajax match, when antisemitic, Nazi and Ustaše slogans were chanted through the city streets. Index reports that he said that the footage has spread around Europe and the world and that Split has been disgraced. “We owe an apology to the Jews and to all decent people because that is not us, that is not our city,” Puljak stated, Dalmacija Danas reports.
Puljak stressed that condemnations of the incident are not enough if one wants to prevent the repetition of such events. He believes it is necessary to speak openly about the causes and sees responsibility in politics and in the authorities’ attitude towards the return of extremist symbols into public space. “This didn’t start last Thursday and it didn’t start on the street. For years, we’ve been watching a politics for which the most important thing is to stay in power and which for that reason has allied itself with anyone, regardless of where they come from. That same politics has for years silently watched as the dark past returns to public space,” Puljak said.
an (expected) swipe at hdz…
He added that tolerating such phenomena can be understood as permission and opened the question of possible deals between members of the ruling party and fan groups. He also expressed suspicion that this is a staging by HDZ.
“Have certain people from the ruling party made a deal with fan groups that they will have their support at elections, and then these will tolerate everything they do? And who knows what else is hidden behind those deals,” Puljak asked. As a second important problem Puljak singled out clientelism and employment in the public sector. According to his estimate, in Croatia there are at least 10,000 managerial jobs that were not created because of the needs of society, but because of HDZ’s needs for employment.
“croatian society needs to be reset”
He called for the abolition of such positions and said that a change of government must not mean the replacement of party cadres. “The rule must be simple and without exception: always and only the best,” he said. Puljak stated that Croatian society needs to be “reset” and placed on the foundations of science, reason and humanism.
“Those who shouted through Split last Thursday were not defending Croatia, nor Christianity, nor humanism, but were disgracing all three,” he declared. He explained that the symbol of his political option is a broom, with which he wants to convey that long-standing problems need to be removed. “We need to sweep away what has been accumulating in the corners for years, and that is clientelism, corruption and tolerance of hatred,” he said. He concluded his message with a call to citizens for joint action. “Croatia deserves it. Split deserves it. Let’s do it together,” he urged.
