The second round of local elections in Croatia has ended. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time on June 1 and closed at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Bulgarian time).

The Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) retained its dominant position on the political map, winning in most counties (regions). Its candidates secured or confirmed their power in 15 of the 21 counties, including key areas along the coast and in the continental part of the country. The results from the country's largest cities are clear.

Tomislav Tomasevic (green-left platform “We Can,” supported by the Social Democratic Party) is the new mayor of the capital Zagreb with nearly 58% of the vote. Tomislav Šuta (Croatian Democratic Community) is the winner in Split with over 53% of the vote, while Iva Rinić (independent candidate) won in Rijeka. Vukovar also has a new mayor, Marian Pavliček from the Sovereignty Party.

In addition to the mayors of the three largest cities in the country, voters also elected 12 district governors and 44 mayors. A total of 4,980 polling stations were open for the elections.

SDP leader Sinisa Hajdash Dončić said at a press conference that the party was extremely pleased with the victories achieved in the country, but that overall, the HDZ had achieved a major victory.

“The voters have decided who they trust,” said HDZ chairman and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. He emphasized that the victory in the local elections was a convincing one for his party. "On behalf of the HDZ and the party leadership, I would like to congratulate all the new district mayors, mayors, and chiefs. We are truly pleased with the results of these local elections.

Further progress has been made compared to the last elections. The HDZ won in 280 constituencies, or 48.6 percent. This is a convincing victory," he said, quoted by Index.

He sent special congratulations to the new mayor of Split, Tomislav Šuta from the HDZ.

In a country with 428 municipalities and 127 cities, where more than 31,000 people are running for office (by comparison, in Denmark, with a million more voters, there were 9,000 candidates in the last local elections), the big parties, which can mobilize their well-oiled election machines, generally have the advantage. | BGNES