who threatened Yugoslavia's continuation as a unified state. These comparisons were made following conflicting media statements by the party's leaders—especially at the HDZ general convention—which made it difficult to assess whether this was merely an electoral tactic, or whether the party's intention was to encourage Croatian nationalism. The Croatian public came to view the HDZ as the only party that could effectively "defend Croatia's national interests". The SKH-SDP was portrayed as a party of moderates by the Croatian media, and it avoided using the term "Croatian national interests" as a major talking point, fearing it would lose the support of Croatian Serb voters. The KNS was positioned between the two but its incoherent approach and greater emphasis on individual rights rather than national issues cost it votes. Beginning in mid-1988, mainstream Serbian media reported that Croatia was supporting Albanian separatism in the Serbian province of Kosovo and was oppressing Croatian Serbs to pressure Serbia's leaders. Media heavily criticized the HDZ and equated it with the fascist Ustaše movement that controlled Croatia during World War II, while the possibility of a HDZ electoral victory was portrayed as a revival of the Croatian fascist state. This rhetoric was reinforced after Tuđman said the NDH was "not merely a quisling construct, but also an expression of the historical aspirations of the Croatian nation". Serbian media consequently equated the prospect of an HDZ electoral victory with a repeat of the Ustaše-led massacres, deportations and forced conversions of Serbs that had occurred in Croatia during World War II. Media had criticized the SKH-SDP since 1989 as ineffective in stopping the rise of Croatian nationalism; the SDS was promoted as the Croatian Serbs' only hope of preserving their national identity. Petrova Gora rally A a rally held at Petrova Gora on 4 March had a significant impact upon ethnic homogenization. It was not formally associated with any party standing in the election; it was organized by the municipalities of Vojnić and Vrginmost, and the Yugoslav Independent Democratic Party. According to the then-mayor of Vrginmost, the two municipalities had organized the rally to show their support for brotherhood and unity—a Titoist concept whereby all of Yugoslavia's ethnic groups would live in harmony—instead of letting it become a Serb nationalist event. The rally was attended by tens of thousand Serbs who heard mainly pro-Yugoslav speeches about the threat posed by the HDZ and the unfavourable position of Serbs