Croatia's Parliament Passes New Law Targeting War-Era Cemetery Inscriptions
Above: A photo shows the empty Parliament chamber before the first meeting of Croatian Parliament elected on April 17, in Zagreb, on May 16, 2024. Image copyright: Damir Sencar/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-government narrative
This law is a long-overdue step toward protecting the dignity of its constitutional order and honoring the victims of aggression. It targets only post-1990 monuments glorifying a violent separatist campaign, like the Šoškočanin mausoleum, not ordinary graves. Serbia has taken similar action with Albanian monuments — Croatia has every right to do the same without being unfairly vilified.
Opposition narrative
Croatia’s move to erase tombstones “glorifying Serbian aggression” dangerously conflates justice with selective memory. By targeting only post-1990 Serbian graves — many in Cyrillic — this law deepens ethnic divides, fosters fear among Serbs, and risks politicizing mourning. True reconciliation requires confronting all atrocities, not sanitizing history.