The Zagreb City Assembly on Thursday adopted next year's budget of 8.19 billion kuna (€1.1 billion), with 26 votes in favour, 24 against, and no abstentions.

It was unclear whether Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic will have the necessary support for the budget in the 51-seat Assembly after he had lost the support of the conservative Independents for Croatia party which was until then the junior coalition partner with Bandic’s party.

The necessary three votes were secured by Ilija Coric, of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), Miroslav Polovanec, of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), and Jozo Milicevic, of the Independent List Zagreb.

All three were expelled from their parties later in the day.

The opposition did not support the budget, describing it as “megalomanic” and saying it did not benefit the people living in Zagreb.

Rajko Ostojic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which has 6 seats in the Zagreb City Assembly, said the city had not seen any developmental projects for 18 years, and that the budget would not bring anything new.

“21 million kuna (€2.8 million) is earmarked for monuments, while only 12 million kuna (€1.6 million) for the new kindergartens,” said Tomislav Tomasevic of the Zagreb je Naš party (Zagreb is ours).

The budget for 2019 is larger by 185 million kuna (€25 million) compared to last year’s, and has absorbed four times more money from the EU funds, said the head of the City Office for Finance, Daniela Juros Pecnik, warning that failure to adopt the budget could threaten further absorption of some 500 million kuna (€67.6 million) from the EU funds.

(€1 = 7.38 kuna)

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