ZAGREB, 4 June 2021 - Former acting Zagreb mayor Jelena Pavičić Vukičević said on Friday the city ended last year HRK 90 million in the red.

Speaking on N1 television, she said annual borrowing was always done with the consent of the Finance Ministry, that it never exceeded 20% of the city budget, and that borrowing until 2035 totalled HRK 2 billion.

She also said that everyone working in the city administration had passed a public call for applications. "It's a procedure that lasts six months in which diplomas and other documents are verified, and it's a procedure the new mayor will have to respect, too."

Earlier today, Pavičić Vukičević transferred executive powers to the new mayor, Tomislav Tomašević, handing over extensive reports, including on the execution of the 2020 budget.

She said today's talk with Tomašević was "friendly" and that the new mayor would be acquainted with all of the city's operations.

For more on politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated politics page.

June the 1st, 2021 - Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic has claimed that despite the clear Tomasevic and Mozemo! (We Can!) win in the City of Zagreb, making him the new mayor and marking a significant political shift, that Mozemo! have something against ''this Croatia''.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, upon answering journalists' questions about the election results, PM Andrej Plenkovic (HDZ) said that he hadn't yet called Tomislav Tomasevic in person and congratulated him on his win and new title as the Mayor of Zagreb, but that he does intend to and will.

When he was asked how it is that everyone says they are winning, he simply said: "Count!"

“The numbers are always the best indicators. HDZ has 45 percent of cities and municipalities, 75 percent of the counties. HDZ has never won 15 counties before. I see that people Mozemo! paraphrased my message from back in 2016 when I said: "We're changing the HDZ to change Croatia." They're changing Zagreb to change Croatia. Obviously, they have something against the Croatia in which we managed to prevent social fragmentation, preserve 700,000 jobs, save 120,000 employers, pay 2.9 billion kuna within Zagreb alone for the salaries of 215,000 workers in the capital… I guess that's a message for change that needs to be done at the level of Croatia. I still have to listen carefully to precisely what changes they're calling for,'' said PM Andrej Plenkovic.

When asked what kind of cooperation he expects with Zagreb's new mayor Tomislav Tomasevic, he said that he has good cooperation with all leaders of local government units.

In a recent speech, he emphasised that the HDZ failed to win in only three out of six big cities. When asked by journalists whether or not the four largest Croatian cities are always the measure, Plenkovic pointed out the example of Velika Gorica near Zagreb, which, as he says, is growing, is now very large and that there is no big difference in population when compared to the likes of Osijek and Zadar as well.

"I'm delighted with the HDZ victory in Bjelovar-Bilogora County in the form of a young man of 36 years of age, who is one of those people of the new generation of HDZ. There, HDZ has returned to power after 20 years. It's the same situation in Varazdin County. For the first time in 20 years, Komadina had to go to the second round with Cappelli, where he won, although itsn't the sort of victory like he had before.

Of the 15 prefects we have, eight of them are "old" and seven are new. Of those seven, two are women and that’s just as important. The only women prefects are from HDZ - Antonija Jozic and Martina Furek Hajdin. The third candidate for mayor, Irena Hrstic, achieved the best HDZ result ever in Istria County, above 18 percent,'' he pointed out, emphasising that they also returned to power in Lika-Senj County.

He also accused RTL and Nova TV of deliberately mispronouncing the name of HDZ's candidate for mayor of Zagreb, Davor Filipovic, saying: "You should make a poster about what ideological television is like," to an N1 television reporter.

For more, make sure to follow our dedicated section on Croatian politics.

ZAGREB, 31 May 2021 - The man who started a smaller fire near an entrance to a museum where Zagreb mayor-elect Tomislav Tomašević's team gathered on Sunday evening was taken to a police station in Zagreb on Monday, the local police reported.

The police did not reveal the identity of the suspect and only reported that an investigation was being conducted.

As Zagreb's mayor-elect Tomašević was preparing to address his supporters and public at his campaign headquarters on Sunday evening, an older man arrived at the scene, hurling insults at those attending the event and starting a smaller fire, after which he left. The man arrived at one of the fire exits of Zagreb's Museum of Contemporary Art, close to the stage, where he was stopped by security guards.

Shouting insults at the security guards, he spilled a flammable liquid on the floor and on one of the guards. He then set the liquid on fire but the fire was soon extinguished as the man walked away. Police were called to the scene after the incident.

According to media reports, the man called those attending the event communists and threatened to kill them.

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ZAGREB, 31 May 2021 - Acting Zagreb Mayor Jelena Pavičić Vukičević said on Monday all the documents necessary for transferring authority to newly-elected Mayor Tomislav Tomašević were ready at the city administration and that the transfer could occur on Friday at the earliest.

She congratulated Tomašević on his election and wished him and his team success in their work.

We followed the campaign and saw the election programs, and we expect their prompt and good realization, she told the press.

Pavičić Vukičević also congratulated the people of Zagreb on City Day, which is observed today.

For more on politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.