Vjekoslav Bušić: ‘In Gospić, One Man Did Not Fail, the Entire State Did’

“In Gospić, one man did not fail, the entire state did,” Vjekoslav Bušić said ahead of a major protest over waste in Lika. Speaking for the civic initiative Gospić je naš dom, he rejected the idea that the issue could be resolved simply by punishing individual offenders.

Bušić said institutions had opportunities to act but failed to treat the danger seriously or intervene in time. Even after they learned about the risk, he argued, they did not take all the measures available under Croatian law to reduce or prevent the damage. In his view, that failure carries professional and political responsibility, even where it does not amount to a criminal offense.

“

In Gospić, one man did not fail, the entire state did.

He said the initiative’s goal was to ensure that all environmental “black spots” in Croatia are cleaned up as soon as possible. The campaign, he added, had attracted wider support after attempts to attach political labels to it. Its demands, he said, concern constitutional values, including the right to a healthy environment and water. “I cannot believe that dangerous waste can be left-wing or right-wing,” he said.

The organizers have invited everyone to the protest, including the president and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. Bušić said the government had made serious mistakes while the Gospić problem developed, and suggested there was political logic in its absence from the gathering. He hoped the event would face no obstruction and urged participants to avoid arguments and report irregularities or symbols of former criminal regimes to police or stewards. The initiative has demanded waste remediation for a year and a half and says repeated requests for a short meeting with Plenković have not produced one.

“

I cannot believe that dangerous waste can be left-wing or right-wing.