ZAGREB, 3 March, 2021 - A funeral was held on Wednesday for the long-serving Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, who passed away on Sunday from a heart attack, aged 65.
Addressing the funeral ceremony at Mirogoj Cemetery, Acting Mayor Jelena Pavičić Vukičević described Bandić as a "person with so much vital energy and love for all, a person who did so much for this city, becoming part of its identity and dreaming big dreams about its future. He was unique and inimitable."
She said that Bandić had left an indelible mark on the present and future of Zagreb. "We are saying goodbye to a great man, a true patriot and a political visionary, one of the greatest mayors of Zagreb who dedicated his life to public service, most of all to ordinary people. We are saying goodbye to a humanist and a fighter for policies devoid of hypocrisy and ideology, for equal rights and opportunity for all. We are saying goodbye to a political leader and the longest-serving mayor of Zagreb who changed the cityscape by turning it into a true European metropolis."
Pavičić Vukičević will run the city until local elections in May. She has said she will not run for Mayor.
Along with the family, friends and close associates, the funeral was attended by senior state officials - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, Veterans Minister Tomo Medved and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman.
Also present were public and political figures, representatives of various cultural and sports associations. Almost all people present wore face masks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The mayors of Skopje, Ljubljana, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Split also arrived to bid farewell to the late mayor. They signed a book of condolence in City Hall.
