The aim of this paper is to analyze the regular local elections in the Republic of Croatia that were held on May 18, in the first round, and June 1, 2025, in the second round. In the local elections, convocations of regional, county, and local, city, and municipal assemblies were elected, along with the election of the city assembly and mayor of the capital city Zagreb, which has the status of both regional and local self-government. Along with the convocations of assemblies, mayors and presidents of municipalities (mayors), as well as their deputies from among national minorities, were also elected. These elections, like most previous local election cycles, also demonstrated the rivalry between the two leading national parties - HDZ and SDP, often in appearances with their coalition partners, and in them, HDZ won a significant advantage and achieved almost complete unity of national and local Government. Attempts by "third options" to make inroads were unsuccessful or were achieved in coalition with the aforementioned leading parties, with the exception of certain circles, while all parliamentary parties, whether those in the coalition in power or in the opposition (Homeland Movement, MOST, etc.), experienced electoral decline. In the elections, a certain importance was traditionally given to regional, minority parties, but also to independent candidates.
Stančetić et al. (Thu,) studied this question.