Croatian government refused to act decisively concerning the erection of the memorial plaque in Jasenovac. PM Andrej Plenković, at the head of a shaky coalition and already unpopular with the more radical right members of his party, opted to delay the decision and instead announced the formation of a Commission for Dealing with Totalitarian Symbols. Right-wing pundits and HOS veterans launched a campaign that claimed that “Za dom spremni” (For the homeland, ready!), a salute from the Homeland War, had nothing to do with the Ustasha (WWII Independent State of Croatia militia), but was in fact a “centuries-old Croatian salute”.
HOS (Croatian Defence Forces), Zagreb and Jasenovac association of HOS volunteers. HOS was a paramilitary army of the radical right-wing Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992 when its units were absorbed into the Croatian Army. During the Croatian War of Independence, HOS organized several early units and participated in Croatia’s defence while not hiding its identification with the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state, through its insignia.