Croatia has new elections: surprise victories and historic turning points!

Croatia has new elections: surprise victories and historic turning points!

The second round of local elections in Croatia ended on June 1, 2025, with polling stations closing at 7:00 p.m. Overall, the elections went as expected, with one major exception in Rijeka, where independent candidate Iva Rinčić won a surprise victory.

In Zagreb, the left-green incumbent Tomislav Tomašević was able to defend his position with 57.6% of the vote. He clearly beat candidate Marija Selak Raspudić, who received 42.4% of the vote. In the first round of voting on May 18, Tomašević was also clearly ahead.

Results in Split and Rijeka

In Split, the ruling HDZ party reported a significant victory after winning the mayoral election again after four years. Tomislav Šuta won the election with 53.2% of the vote against the liberal incumbent Ivica Puljak, who received 46.8% and announced his retirement from politics following this result.

The elections in Rijeka, however, caused a stir. Iva Rinčić, who had already achieved 41.07% of the votes in the first round, finally won with almost 65% of the votes against Marko Filipović, who received 35%. Rinčić becomes the first female mayor of Rijeka in over 50 years, forcing the Social Democrats (SDP) to lose control of the city after more than 30 years.

Political analysis and trends

Political analysts such as Višeslav Raos and Davor Gjenero largely assess the election results as expected, but emphasize the unexpected outcome in Rijeka. Filipović's decision to run independently was seen as a major blow to the SDP, which had weak results in other cities such as Sisak.

In Zagreb, cooperation between the SDP and the green-left party Možemo! successful, and the polls suggest that Tomašević can easily get through the second round. In the city assembly, his list received 43.56% of the votes. In contrast, HDZ candidate Mislav Herman only received 12.97% of the vote, indicating strategic errors on the part of the party.

The majority of voters obviously had little motivation, which was also reflected in the low turnout. Many citizens consider local elections to be less important, which has reduced interest in active participation.

Looking ahead to the upcoming parliamentary elections

These local elections take place in the context of the upcoming parliamentary election in Croatia, scheduled for April 17, 2024. The official results of this election will be published on April 29, 2024. The political developments and the election results will continue to be followed with interest in the coming months, especially in light of the current trends and the results of the local elections.

In total, mayors in 47 cities and 61 municipalities as well as captains in 12 counties were elected in the runoff elections. The political impact of these elections will certainly influence the direction of the upcoming general elections.