In a statement, the city organization claims the concert serves as a cover for real problems and boosting the ratings of right-wing options, describing the singer's engagement as 'fascistoid'.
On Monday, August 3, 2026, the Vukovar city branch of the SDP issued a statement calling on fellow citizens not to attend the concert by Marko Perković Thompson. The performance is scheduled for late August, with media outlets not agreeing on the exact date, 24sata mentions August 28, while Telegram.hr cites August 29, 2026.
At the heart of the criticism is the assessment that the singer's activities, both musical and public, create a hostile environment in Vukovar. "Therefore, the Vukovar SDP City Organization 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 that sends shivers down the spine not only of members of the Serbian community but also of the rest of the civilized citizenry of Vukovar, a campaign that takes our fellow citizens back to a time of hatred and killing," they state in the announcement.
The SDP further claims that the singer "promotes aggressive patriotism and further strains the already tense atmosphere of distrust in the city." They also believe the concert is being exploited for political purposes: "The singer and that entire right-wing and, in our view, fascistoid campaign is using the city in a usurious and profiteering manner to boost the ratings of right-wing parties at the national level and to conceal 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 reads.
In the statement, the Vukovar SDP also extensively criticizes the current city administration, listing moves they believe have worsened the lives of citizens. Among these are the abolition of free kindergartens, increased fees for city transport, salary cuts for city administration employees, and a reduction in mooring fees for tourist boats.
Additionally, they highlight a series 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 citizens to travel to Ilok for dental X-rays. They also criticize the non-transparent spending of city funds on the VBF (Vukovar Fair), for which, as they say, "it is still unknown who was involved and why."
The statement also emphasizes the dire economic situation in the city. "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 is deceiving its citizens), while our people are leaving the city," it states.
The Vukovar SDP proposes three key guidelines for recovery: rehabilitating relations between Serbs and Croats after peaceful reintegration through joint civic and ecumenical programs in schools, economic development through the revitalization of factory areas and transport infrastructure, and stopping 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 conceal the real problems of citizens, and right-wing parties and some other societal structures to return the Republic of Croatia to 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."
