Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic on Tuesday expressed regret over the resignation of Anamarija Simundic as Director of the Sveti Duh Clinical Hospital, saying that the criminal complaints, pressure and threats came from "those who were doing fine before."

“Pressure and criminal complaints began after women were allowed to have an abortion, so I am certain that some of the pressure and anonymous criminal complaints and threats, which she reported to the police, came from people who were making a good living in the old system, when the previous mayor was in power and during the time of the previous hospital management,” Tomasevic told a press conference.

Simundic tendered her irrevocable resignation on Monday.

“It’s not just that I regret it, but I’m wondering what sort of message this sends to society,” the mayor said, adding that, in his opinion, Simundic had improved the quality of hospital services and the hospital’s financial performance.

He announced that the hospital’s governing council would soon meet to appoint an acting director, after which a public call would be issued for the appointment of a new director.

Tomasevic said that the media used double standards in their reports on the situation at the hospital and that Simundic had been targeted by the media since her appointment. He said he expected such unprecedented attacks on the hospital to stop.

“There were obviously double standards and we could see that in the case of enterovirus infection. It was breaking news when it happened at Sveti Duh, but was no longer breaking news when it happened elsewhere,” the mayor said. “It looked as if Sveti Duh was the worst hospital in Croatia, which it is not.”