Tomislav Tomasevic

The mayors of Athens and Zagreb have issued a joint statement condemning the fierce clashes between rival supporters in the Greek capital, resulting in the death of a 29-year-old soccer fan on Monday.

"Senseless violence and bloodshed find no place within our stadiums, cities, or society," said Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis and his Zagreb counterpart, Tomislav Tomasevic.

Ognjen Kraus, the coordinator of Croatia's Jewish community organisations, told a ceremony at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery on Tuesday to mark Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that Holocaust denial is going unpunished in the country and Jewish graves are being obliterated.

Croatian leaders' contrasting attitudes towards Tuesday's annual commemoration of the murder of a Croatian family during the independence war drew equally contrasting responses.

Zagreb's new Left-Green mayor, Tomislav Tomasevic attended the commemoration of the murder of the Zec family in 1991 in person.

Ecological protest in Belgrade in front of the Parliament. April 10, 2021. Photo: Marko Miletic

After Zagreb… Belgrade?

Tomislav Tomasevic, who has been in office as Zagreb's mayor since the beginning of June, announced fresh changes to the city's management on Tuesday, including abolishing free parking spaces in front of healthcare facilities.

In a new anti-corruption action that started with arrests on Wednesday, Croatian police and anti-corruption investigators have launched an investigation into associates of former Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, including the director of Croatian Radiotelevision, HTV, Kazimir Bacic.

Young green-left candidate Tomislav Tomasevic, leader of the Mozemo! (We Can!) party, came out on top in the local election run-off on Sunday in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, winning the most votes in the history of mayoral races in the city.

Rather than being a work-horse for the people of Zagreb, Bandic is "a Trojan horse working against the citizens," Tomasevic told some 4,000 protesters at the site.

Avoiding old ideological divides

Tomislav Tomasevic at a protest against a construction project in Zagreb's Varsavska street, February 2010. Photo: Flickr/tomislav medak.

Activist Mayor?

Zagreb's Ban Jelacic square. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANTONIO BAT.

With days to go before the key second round of local elections in Croatia, all eyes are turned to the capital, Zagreb, where leftist candidate Tomislav Tomasevic is poised to take the mayorship of the city. His main rival is popular singer and now right-wing politician Miroslav Skoro.

Green-Left Trend?

Croatian leader of 'Mozemo' Party Tomislav Tomasevic casts his ballot at a polling station in downtown Zagreb, Croatia. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANTONIO BAT