Flags on Bollards and Government Polemics: Zagreb on Victory Day
While flags appeared in unusual places in Trnje, HDZ and Možemo! exchanged accusations over their absence from the main city square.
While flags appeared in unusual places in Trnje, HDZ and Možemo! exchanged accusations over their absence from the main city square.
The celebration of the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm in Zagreb was marked by unusual scenes and political polemics. While Croatian flags flew from traffic bollards in Trnje, a heated debate unfolded between the City Organization of HDZ and the ruling Možemo! platform regarding their presence on Ban Jelačić Square.
Yesterday, HRT Radio Sljeme posted photos on social media that drew significant public attention. At the intersection of Pile I. and Cvijete Zuzorić streets, in the part of Trnje known as Kruge, about ten Croatian flags were placed on the bollards separating the roadway from the sidewalk. The occasion was the celebration of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders, observed on August 5, 2026.
The initiative drew mixed reactions in the comments. Some readers thanked the members of the 148th Brigade, who are credited with placing the flags. Others expressed the view that the flag, as a national symbol, deserves a more dignified location. "If there were any luck and legal regulations, they would hang on every building," one commenter wrote, while another asserted that "flags are an altar and have no place in parking lots."
Some commenters took the opportunity to criticize the city's communal infrastructure. "Let it be seen how many bollards are installed and what they are for," read one comment from a Sljeme listener. Another linked the scene to the political situation: "Bravo, since the main square is ashamed, here's someone who knows how to celebrate."
The reference to the main square was not coincidental. The president of the HDZ City Organization for the City of Zagreb criticized the city's ruling party on Tuesday for the absence of Croatian flags on Ban Jelačić Square ahead of the national holiday. In response to the perceived shortfall, the HDZ City Organization for the City of Zagreb went to the Square the same day and hung Croatian flags in several places, adorning it with national symbols.
Representatives from the Možemo! platform quickly responded to the criticism, calling it lies. They claimed that Croatian flags had been displayed on the Square before HDZ's intervention. "If they knew Ban Jelačić Square at all, they would know that on the northern masts, east of the statue of Ban Jelačić, a large flag of the Republic of Croatia is always and continuously displayed, along with the flags of the City of Zagreb and the European Union," said representatives of the Možemo! platform on social media.
The two sides thus remained at odds: HDZ claimed the flags were missing, while Možemo! insisted they were always present on the masts on the northern side of the square.
