Thousands of people on Sunday joined protest marches in Croatia against a surging far right following a spate of incidents that have fueled both ethnic and political tensions in the European Union country.

Gatherings dubbed “United against fascism” were organized in four major cities, including the capital, Zagreb.

The crowd chanted “we are all antifascists” as they pledged to counter what they described as a bid by right-wing groups to spread fear and silence opponents.

Protesters demanded also that the authorities curb hard right groups and their frequent use of pro-fascist symbols relating to Croatia’s World War II pro-Nazi puppet state, which ran concentration camps where tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma and antifascist Croats were executed.

A protest declaration stated that “we will not agree to treating national minorities as a provocation and to an idea of patriotism that draws its symbols from the darkest episode of our history.”

Groups of young men wearing black clothes showed up in counter-gatherings in the northwestern port city of Rijeka and the central coastal town of Zadar, where they shouted insults and threw firecrackers and red paint at the protesters, according to the HRT public broadcaster.

Extremist incidents in November targeted ethnic Serb cultural events in the capital Zagreb and in the coastal city of Split, sparking fears of ethnic violence decades after a Serb-Croat war in 1991-95.

Extremists also have turned against liberal groups or politicians, as well as foreign workers in Croatia.

Prime Minister Plenkovic has denied turning a blind eye to spikes in far-right extremism and neo-fascist hate speech.

He, in turn, has accused his leftist opponents of blowing the problem out of proportion and thus deepening the divisions.

AP video shot by Sasa Kavic