Glavas about the new pope Lava: « They keep sending me messages that it is the same. And my age is »

Branimir Glavas (68), a controversial Croatian politician and war commander, appeared on Facebook shortly after the world learned that the new Pope became an American Robert Prekost, who took the name Lav XIV.

– We have a pope! Non-stops are coming to me that the same is. And it is my age as well – Glavas said in a description of the announcement, obviously having fun with comparisons with a 69 -year -old chief of the Catholic Church.

Recall that Prekost, born in 1955 in the United States this year, is full of 70 years, and the choice for Pope Lav XIV. He marked the historic moment because it was the first American at the head of the church.

Branimir Glavas, however, has not been coming off the cover for decades. Born in 1956 in Osijek, he distinguished himself as the commander of the city’s defense in the Homeland War, and later gained a general act. He started his political career in the HDZ, where he was among the founders, but in 2005 he dispersed with Ivo Sanader and founded the HDSSB regional party.

His career was also marked by serious accusations: in 2009 he was sentenced to ten years in prison for war crimes against Serb civilians, in the infamous cases of « Selotejp » and « Garage ». His sentence was reduced, and he endured it in BiH, where he escaped and where he possessed citizenship. The Constitutional Court of Croatia later abolished the verdict, and the proceedings were repeated.

But the problems did not stop there: in October 2023 he was re -sentenced to seven years, after which he left Croatia again, accusing the authorities of political persecution. Despite legal battles, Glavas has maintained influence in his native Slavonia and in April 2025. He announced a new political offensive – a candidacy for the Osijek -Baranja mayor in the upcoming local elections.