A video of a press conference featuring musician Marko Perković Thompson is being shared on social media under the title: “Of course I’ll sing Čavoglave at the Hippodrome!”

The accompanying posts imply that Thompson announced he would perform the song “Bojna Čavoglave” at his upcoming concert scheduled for July 5, 2025, at Zagreb’s Hippodrome.

As the song opens with the salute “Za dom spremni”, which is subject to the Law on Misdemeanors Against Public Order and Peace (Article 5) and has been the subject of multiple legal proceedings, we examined when and in what context the statement was made to determine whether its renewed circulation is misleading.

The video clip, taken from the press conference, was first published on February 13 on the maxportal.hr portal (available here, archived here) under the title: “Thompson: Will I sing Čavoglave at the concert? Of course…” That post leaves out the time and location of the press conference, stripping the statement of its original context and creating a false impression about its relevance to the upcoming concert. The video’s resurfacing followed the announcement of Thompson’s 2025 Zagreb concert and may mislead viewers. Since then, the same clip has been reshared under manipulative titles implying that the controversial song will be performed at the upcoming July concert in Zagreb (example available here).
For instance, on the Obitelj & Domovina HR page, the video was shared on March 31 with the same misleading title. As of the time of writing, the video had garnered 833,000 views, 19,000 likes, 1,500 comments, and 558 shares (available here, archived here).

By reviewing past press conferences held by Marko Perković Thompson and his team, we determined that the mentioned press conference at which Marko Perković Thompson spoke about the song Čavoglave took place more than five years ago, specifically on August 3, 2019. In the video excerpt from that conference, which is now being shared on social media, Perković says:

“You’re surely wondering whether I’ll sing the song Bojna Čavoglave. Of course I will, I’m telling you that now. Yes, I will sing it. It’s a song from the Homeland War, and for me and my friends—veterans—it’s not controversial at all. It’s a testimony of the time, a witness to the creation of the Croatian state. It represents a truth.
Anyone who opposes the song is opposed to the truth of the Homeland War. Even today, the song evokes memories of the war and of the time when we were building the Croatian state. That’s extremely important to us. Others may feel differently—they have a right to—but the song is legal and breaks no laws, as you’ve probably seen over the past few years when it was under legal scrutiny and ultimately cleared in court rulings. Naturally, the police no longer even file reports. I must say, that brings me a sense of satisfaction.”

The press conference being circulated today was not held ahead of the concert scheduled for July 5, 2025, in Zagreb, but rather in anticipation of a performance in Split.
This is confirmed by the publication date of the full video, uploaded to the Splitv Videoportal YouTube channel under the title: “Marko Perković Thompson – Press Conference at the Veterans of the 4th Guards Brigade Premises Ahead of the Riva Concert” (available here). The video clearly shows the conference took place and was published on August 3, 2019.

There is no publicly available confirmation that Marko Perković Thompson will perform Bojna Čavoglave at the concert scheduled for July 5, 2025, in Zagreb. No such announcement has been made through relevant media, promotional materials, or official statements from the artist.

In conclusion, the statement featured in the video currently circulating on social media was made in August 2019 in the context of a concert in Split – not in relation to the upcoming concert in Zagreb.
Titles and posts suggesting otherwise omit key information about the timing and context of the statement, thereby distorting its relevance and potentially misleading audiences.

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Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission, nor the positions of the Agency for Electronic Media. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission, nor the Agency for Electronic Media can be held responsible for them.

This post is also available in: Hrvatski