Dobroslav Paraga (born 9 December 1960) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n right-wing politician. He was first president of the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

, after the party was reestablished in 1991. In 1993 he founded the Croatian Party of Rights 1861 following a political split from

Anto Đapić Anto Đapić (born 22 August 1958) is a Croatian far right politician and the former president of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP). He served as a representative in the Croatian Parliament, a post he was elected to at the 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 ...

Background

In his early days Paraga advocated the secession of

from

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

which led to persecution by the Communist authorities. When a multi-party system was established in Croatia, he initially joined the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ) of

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

. However, involvement with the party clearly indicated that there was variation in sentiment among its members. Greater Croatia 01

Paraga came to feel the HDZ was not the radical party which he had expected, and so the party split. He and a delegation of like-minded radicals formed the

(HSP). His party formed its own militia, the Croatian Defence Forces (; ''HOS''). In an interview in 2000, Paraga stated his party was “for a Croatia to the Drina, and for a

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

to the Adriatic”. Paraga and the HSP had had hopes of becoming the major political factor before the 1992 presidential and parliamentary elections, but those hopes did not materialise. The HSP did enter the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

and Paraga came fourth among presidential candidates, but it was clear that the party was far from its target. Another blow came in the form of high treason charges against Paraga and his associate

, who were stripped of their parliamentary immunity. Those charges were ultimately dropped, but the most serious blow for Paraga came when Đapić turned against him and took over the leadership of the HSP at the 1993 party convention in Kutina. Paraga accused Đapić of being in cahoots with Tuđman and tried to retrieve party leadership in court.

Modern activity

Following the failure of the effort and second split with fellow party members, in 1995 Paraga founded a party called Croatian Party of Rights 1861, claiming to be the true descendant of the 19th century party in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraga, Dobroslav 1960 births Living people Politicians from Zagreb Croatian Democratic Union politicians Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Candidates in the 1992 Croatian presidential election Croatian Party of Rights 1861 politicians Croatian Party of Rights politicians Croatian nationalists Croatian dissidents Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Yugoslavia Croatian independence activists