SDP Vukovar Calls for Boycott of Thompson's Concert
The city branch of the SDP says the concert serves to mask the city's real problems and boost the ratings of right-wing parties, labeling the singer's campaign 'fascistoid.'
The city branch of the SDP says the concert serves to mask the city's real problems and boost the ratings of right-wing parties, labeling the singer's campaign 'fascistoid.'
The Vukovar city branch of the SDP issued a statement on Monday, August 3, 2026, calling on citizens to boycott a concert by Marko Perković Thompson. The concert is scheduled for late August, though sources disagree on the exact date-24sata reports August 28, while Telegram.hr mentions August 29, 2026.
At the heart of the statement is the assessment that Thompson's musical and public activities create a hostile atmosphere in Vukovar. "Therefore, the Vukovar SDP City Branch calls for a boycott of the singer and the concert scheduled for the end of the month due to his aggressive and fascistoid campaign at concerts, which sends chills down the spine not only of members of the Serbian community but also of the rest of Vukovar's civilized citizenry-a campaign that takes our fellow citizens back to a time of hatred and killing," the statement reads.
The SDP members claim the singer "promotes aggressive patriotism and further strains the already tense atmosphere of distrust in the city." They also believe the concert is being used for political purposes: "The singer and that entire right-wing, and in our view fascistoid, campaign are using the city in a usurious and profiteering manner to boost the ratings of right-wing parties at the national level and to mask the real problems of the city of Vukovar. And if you will, nationalism has become a very popular political asset in the hands of those in power at the national level, and the singer is their favorite toy," the statement says.
In its statement, the Vukovar SDP also extensively criticizes the current city government, listing moves they claim have worsened residents' standard of living. These include abolishing free kindergartens, increasing public transport fees, cutting salaries for city administration employees, and reducing mooring fees for tourist boats.
Additionally, they cite a range of communal and health issues-from the lack of a pharmacy and general hospital care to a shortage of specialist doctors, particularly dental care, which forces residents to travel to Ilok for dental X-rays. They also criticize the non-transparent spending of city funds on VBF, for which, as they say, "it is still unknown who was there and why."
The statement also highlights the city's dire economic situation. "The city is full of usurious companies that pay their workers minimum wage, employ foreign workers who work overtime under poor conditions (hence the record employment figures with which the city administration deceives its citizens), while our own people are leaving the city," it states.
The Vukovar SDP proposes three key guidelines for the city's recovery: rehabilitating relations between Serbs and Croats after peaceful reintegration through joint civic and ecumenical programs in schools, economic development through revitalizing industrial zones and transport infrastructure, and halting what they call the "usurious" use of the city for political purposes. They assert that Vukovar is turning into a "museum city of a sort of pity tourism."
The SDP says the singer "with his right-wing patriotism is certainly not welcome in our city." "He serves the irresponsible city government to mask the real problems of citizens, and right-wing parties and some other societal structures to drag the Republic of Croatia back into a dark past," the statement reads.
In conclusion, they emphasize: "we are not against the culture of remembrance, quite the contrary." On the other hand, Thompson recently announced on his Facebook page an upcoming concert at Šubićevac in Šibenik on August 4, 2026, with a message that he will open it with the song "Bojna Čavoglave" because "it serves as a lasting reminder of the courage of Croatian defenders in defending against Yugoslav-communist and Serbian fascism and a symbol of the values and freedom on which the modern Croatian state is founded."
