(ANSA) - ZAGABRIA, NOV 12 - Zagreb's municipal assembly yesterday adopted a decision banning the use of Ustaša symbols during concerts, rallies and other public events held in facilities managed by the municipality. The decision comes amid continuing ideological tensions, which erupted this summer after far-right folk-rock singer Marko Perković Thompson held a concert in Zagreb in front of some half a million people, and characterized by the slow but steady 'normalization' of the public use of pro-fascist symbols, songs, and greetings. To this decision the left-wing majority, consisting of the Green Party's Možemo! (We Can!), in coalition with the Social Democrats, was pushed after the singer asked to hold a concert on Dec. 28 in the Zagreb Arena, a facility managed by the municipality. A first concert, scheduled for the previous day, had been authorized back in March, and--given the contracts already signed--should still take place. However, Mayor Tomislav Tomašević has decided to prevent further demonstrations of an ultranationalist nature, with elements and symbols bordering on constitutionality. "This is a policy decision regulating the use of spaces managed by municipally owned companies and institutions, introducing rules in line with the Constitution on what is and is not allowed," Tomašević explained. "Any permits for future Thompson concerts will depend on how the one on Dec. 27 will be held," he stressed. The decision also cites a verdict of the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the public use of the "For the Homeland Ready" salute is not protected by freedom of expression, as it is undoubtedly linked to the Croatian Ustashas regime. In July at the Zagreb Hippodrome, Thompson had performed his patriotic songs celebrating events from Croatia's War for Independence, fought from 1991 to 1995 against Serb separatists and the Belgrade regime of Slobodan Milošević. Some of his most famous songs also evoke the pro-Nazi regime of the Croatian Ustashas in power during World War II, with the support of Hitler and Mussolini. The most controversial song, "Bojna Čavoglave," begins with the cry "Za dom!" (For the Fatherland!), to which the half-million-strong audience, including many political figures and some ministers, had responded in chorus "Spremni!" (Ready!), the Croatian version of the Nazi 'Sieg Heil,' used as the official greeting of the Ustashas, guilty of mass slaughter and the extermination of at least a hundred thousand Serbs, Jews and Roma. Center-right and right-wing oppositions have criticized the mayoralty, accusing it of restricting expressions of Croatian patriotism, insisting on the interpretation, also adopted by the government of conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, that the "For the Fatherland - Ready!" salute has a second positive connotation, linked to the Croatian paramilitary militias that participated in the defense of the country in 1991, later integrated into the ranks of the regular army. (ANSA).