The City of Rijeka removed HOS graffiti from a wall next to Ivan Zajc Primary School on Škurinje this week. The move triggered a sharp reaction from Most MP Marina Miletić, who claims that Mayor Iva Rinčić broke a promise made to fans.
The civic initiative Streets Without Hate had warned the mayor in early April about what it described as an Ustaše graffiti tag on the overpass leading to the school’s courtyard, Fiuman.hr reports. The City Administrative Department for the Municipal System, City Police, Security, Mobility and Environment responded this month stating that the unauthorised graffiti on public land would be removed "as soon as possible". The removal had to wait for a police inspection and was carried out mid-week.
Miletić posted on social media that he was ashamed to have called on Rijeka residents to vote for Rinčić in the local elections. According to his claims, the mayor had given her word to Armada that murals of the fan group and historical Croatian coats of arms with the first white field would not be touched.
"I am ashamed that I called on people to vote for Iva Rinčić! I will never again guarantee anyone outside of Most," Miletić wrote in a post shared by N1.
The MP believes that a legitimate coat of arms of a Homeland War unit was removed from the Rijeka wall and calls the city authorities' decision an insult to veterans. The post states that the wall on Škurinje depicted the coats of arms of Homeland War units in which residents of Rijeka participated. Miletić compared the current mayor's policy to that of her predecessor Vojko Obersnel, noting that he too did not remove HOS insignia.
The City of Rijeka justified the removal by citing municipal regulations: it was, they said, unauthorised graffiti on public land next to a primary school.
