Croatian Liberation Movement
| Croatian Liberation Movement Hrvatski oslobodilački pokret | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Ljubomir Vlašić |
| Secretary-General | Marinko Perec |
| Founder | Ante Pavelić |
| Honorary President | Slavko Grubišić |
| Founded |
8 June 1956; registered on 9 October 1991 (57 years, 247 days) |
| Preceded by | Croatian Statehood Party |
| Headquarters | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Newspaper |
 Hrvatska Spremnost Nezavisna Država Hrvatska Hrvatska sloboda Nezavisna Država Hrvatska |
| Youth wing |
Mladež Mladež |
| Membership (2010) | 650[1] |
| Ideology |
Croatian nationalism Anti-communism Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Far right |
| International affiliation | World League for Freedom and Democracy |
|
Politics of Croatia Political parties Elections | |
The Croatian Liberation Movement (Croatian: Hrvatski oslobodilački pokret or HOP) is a far right party originally formed by Croat emigrants and headed by former leaders of the Axis-allied World War II Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in 1956 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[2][1]
Until the 1970s HOP was a Croatian emigrant organisation with more than 80 percent of its members made up from people who had been politically active in some way in the 1941–1945 NDH regime. Originally led by Ante Pavelić,[1] the former Poglavnik, other signatories of HOP's first foundation charter included former NDH government officials such as Džafer Kulenović and Vjekoslav Vrančić, which caused it to be considered a successor of the Ustaše, the Croatian fascist organisation which ran the World War II puppet state.
HOP was led by Pavelić until his death in 1959. In his testimony he named Stjepan Hefer his successor. However, part of the HOP's leadership wasn't sadisfied with his appointment and his way of work. They founded a new Reformed Croatian Liberation Movement headed by Vjekoslav Vrančić, who was succeeded by Jakov Barbarić after his death. HOP was organised into five centres: South America, United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Highest body of the HOP was the Main Council, while the highest executive body was the Main Command. Bellow the Main Councl there were Department for Emigration and the Department for International Relations. Those departments had seven offices and report services. HOP was a wide organisation which was also composed out of number of societies, branches, groups, commissions etc.[3]
The stated goal of the organisation was the re-establishment of the Independent State of Croatia in its World War II borders, encompassing most of territory of present-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was at the time of HOP's foundation part of SFR Yugoslavia. Although considered by outsiders to be the most radical Croatian nationalist organisation, HOP officially described itself as an anti-communist organisation committed to democratic political means.
After the collapse of communism in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the organization's headquarters were moved from Buenos Aires to Zagreb and it was officially registered as a political party in Croatia in October 1991.[1]
Following registration, HOP ran in the August 1992 parliamentary election with little success. It has remained a marginal political force ever since. Their only other election campaign came six years later for the 2007 election, in which they also fared poorly.
Today, HOP functions as a minor political party in Croatia without holding any seats in the Croatian Parliament or at any other government level. The organization has active branches in Canada (in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver), and Australia (in Melbourne and Sydney).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Croatian Liberation Movement" (in Croatian). Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ↑ Sabrina P. Ramet, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at Peace and at War: Selected Writings, 1983-2007, (Transaction Publishers, 2008), 23.
- ↑ Lučić, Ivicia (6 April 2013). "'Mi Hrvati srušit ćemo svaku Jugoslaviju!'". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 6 April 2013.