Croatian Prime Minister Plenković Expresses Condolences for Julijana Bušić Croatia’s prime minister is mourning a convicted hijacker’s widow as a patriotic symbol — and his choice of words is reigniting a long‑running battle over how the country remembers its violent past.

From 1976 hijacking to nationalist icon

In 1976, American-born Julijana Bušić joined her husband, Croatian nationalist Zvonko Bušić, in hijacking a U.S. airliner, an act that earned both life sentences in the United States and the enduring label of “terrorist” in regional media coverage. The pair became martyrs to parts of the Croatian diaspora who saw them as freedom fighters rather than criminals.

After Croatia’s independence and the fall of one-party rule, Julijana worked in the office of founding president Franjo Tuđman and chronicled her attachment to the new state “in books and articles published in Croatian and American magazines.”

Plenković’s carefully worded farewell

News of Bušić’s death prompted Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to issue formal condolences, calling her someone who “devoted her life to the struggle for the freedom of the Croatian people.” As an American who embraced Croatia’s cause, she “touched many people in Croatia and among Croatian emigrants with her loyalty to Croatian freedom and independence,” he said, describing her as “a lasting symbol of the connectedness of Croatia and its emigrants.”

Plenković also praised her cultural role, saying, “We will miss a writer, essayist and translator who truly loved Croatia.”

Media backlash over “farewell to a terrorist”

Regional outlets seized on the dissonance between her violent past and the premier’s warm tribute. One headline bluntly framed the episode as “Plenković bids farewell to terrorist Julijana Bušić,” foregrounding the hijacking and life sentences in the U.S. Another was even harsher: “Croatian Terrorist Dies, Plenković Bids Farewell,” underscoring that she participated in the “hijacking of an American plane” in 1976.

A third outlet sharpened the tone further, running with: “SHE WILL BE MISSED“: Plenković bids farewell to a TERRORIST,” using the word as a cudgel against the government’s commemorative language.

The clash lays bare Croatia’s unresolved question: where does the line run between national heroism and terrorism — and who gets to decide?