Bruna Esih

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the top candidate of the centrist European People's Party, EPP, for the post of European Commission President, Manfred Weber, will participate in the central election conference of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, on Saturday in Zagreb.

Croatia's local elections on Sunday confirmed the strength of the governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, in the counties, but underlined its lack of strength in the major cities of Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek.

The HDZ won in 11 out of Croatia's 20 counties, while its traditional opponent, the opposition Social Democratic Party, SDP, managed to win in only five.

Some 3.7 million Croatian voters will be heading to the polls on Sunday for the local elections, choosing representatives for neighbourhood, city, municipality and county assemblies, as well as directly electing mayors, municipal heads, and county prefects.

Controversial former Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegovic, along with other two independent right-wing MPs - Bruna Esih and Zeljko Glasnovic - could withdraw their support for the government led by the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, an analyst told BIRN.

Croatia's ruling party, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, fears its plans for the local elections in Zagreb could be upset after a far-right researcher, Bruna Esih, said she was running for Mayor.

Esih, aged 41, who entered parliament on the HDZ list as a non-party candidate in the last elections, already has the HDZ worried.