Zagreb, 5 September 2026 (Hina/MIA) - The official program of the "Walk for Lika, Walk for Croatia" protest, organized by the "Gospić Is Our Home" civic initiative over tens of thousands of tons of illegally dumped waste in the Gospić area, began Saturday noon in Zagreb on a packed Ban Josip Jelačić Square with chants of "Croatia, Croatia."

"We only have one Croatia, so let's show how much we love it," Vladimir Šulentić of the initiative told thousands of protesters, who responded by chanting "Croatia, Croatia."

"We are asking for something we have a right to," Šulentić said, adding that the protest was aimed at highlighting the illegally dumped hazardous waste in Gospić, demanding its urgent remediation and accountability from the authorities.

Representatives of around 15 civic initiatives and environmental organizations, but no politicians, are due to address the protest.

The organizers are demanding that the government present a comprehensive remediation plan with binding deadlines within 20 days and urgently remove 33,000 tons of buried waste within three months.

They also want the Rakitovac municipal landfill included in the Waste Management Plan, along with long-term comprehensive monitoring involving independent experts, a comprehensive long-term monitoring plan and an independent risk assessment.

At the national level, the initiative is calling for collective protection to be introduced into the Environmental Protection Act, all known "hotspots" to be included in the Waste Management Plan with clear deadlines and funding arrangements, and a temporary ban on waste imports to take effect immediately and remain in force until further notice.

Protesters: System must change, accountability needed for all hotspots

Thousands of people filled Zagreb's main square and surrounding streets, calling for fundamental changes to the system and political accountability for all environmental hotspots in Croatia.

"We are all different, but we have gathered here because we share something far greater than our differences – the right to a healthy life, clean air, clean soil and clean water, and to the homeland we dreamed of," Vjekoslav Bušić of the "Gospić Is Our Home" initiative told the crowd.

He said the protesters had not gathered because they wanted to, but because they had to, stressing that Croatia had laws but that those responsible had failed to enforce them.

Bušić rejected the argument that those responsible would be dealt with through criminal proceedings, saying that was the judiciary's job. He instead asked where the political responsibility lay, who had created the institutions and appointed those who were supposed to protect citizens, and who was responsible for the system. Protesters responded by chanting "Betrayal!"

He asked who had allowed the soil to be polluted for two and a half years and called for the system to be fundamentally changed. "Put experts at the helm of all institutions and remove everyone who is there because of their party membership," he said.

Bušić stressed that the issue concerned not only Gospić but the whole of Croatia, and that political responsibility had to be established for all environmental hotspots.

Gospić resident Željka Šikić, who lives 50 meters from the silos where waste was buried, thanked the thousands who had gathered, saying that for the first time she did not feel abandoned, alone or treated as "the local madwoman."

She accused the authorities of burdening ordinary people with taxes, levies and rising prices while "handing us over to the eco-mafia." "Our home was defended and built with blood, lives and health – and you have buried it under tons and tons of hazardous waste," she said.

Šikić said ordinary people had had enough and would not allow Croatia to become "a European dump for toxic waste." She urged citizens not to remain silent, to monitor the remediation once it began and to report any suspicious lorries.

Politicians: We belong at Lika protest, need to hear citizens

Numerous politicians joined the thousands of citizens at the Zagreb protest, saying they belonged there even though organizers had not invited any politicians to address the crowd.

"Politicians belong here because this is a political and systemic issue. I agree that politicians should not speak, but they must be here," opposition leader and SDP president Siniša Hajdaš Dončić told reporters.

He criticized Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for saying politicians should not attend the protest, comparing him to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Dušica Radojčić (We Can!) said the protest showed that "people have had enough and change is necessary," describing Gospić and Lika as symbols of corruption and neglect of citizens. She said the protest would not have been necessary if "everything were fine or the system were functioning," and blamed HDZ and the government for the situation.

Center president Marijana Puljak said she was attending as a Croatian citizen who wanted a clean country, adding: "Let’s ask citizens today what they want."

Nino Raspudić of Drito said he had come without party insignia to hear what people from Gospić had to say, stressing that the problem concerned not only Gospić but Croatia as a whole.

He accused those in power of having "committed political suicide by allowing mafia clans to destroy Croatian land and water for pocket change." He described the event as a normal civic protest and said the large turnout, particularly among young people, showed that Croatia had not failed and that a new civic will must be taken into account.

Raspudić also rejected the government's portrayal of the protest as ideologically driven, saying it was clear from the turnout that this was not the case.