The Mayor of Gospić has sent a sharply worded open letter to the President of the Republic of Croatia regarding the request for an extraordinary session of Parliament on hazardous waste remediation.
On August 19, 2026, the Mayor of Gospić, Darko Milinović, sent an open letter to the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, in response to his request to convene an extraordinary session of the Croatian Parliament dedicated to the issue of hazardous waste remediation in Gospić. The letter was published on the portal Nacionalno Plus.
In the letter, Milinović does not dispute the President's constitutional authority to request an extraordinary session, but he sharply criticizes the way the request was formulated, particularly the point that requires the Government to receive and inform representatives of citizens and civic initiatives about the situation and planned measures within three days.
It is precisely this point, according to Milinović, that "burdens" the request for an extraordinary session. He believes that by aligning himself with certain political options and civic initiatives, the President has sided with those who wish to profit politically from the nearly tragic situation in Gospić.
"By aligning yourself, as President, with certain political options, you are yourself undermining the STRENGTH of the extraordinary session of Parliament, and I cannot shake the impression that this is a COORDINATED action by those who, based on the near tragedy in Gospić, seek to gain cheap political points, and believe me, WE IN GOSPIĆ RECOGNIZE that."
The Mayor emphasizes that he himself is dissatisfied with the pace of remediation, which he calls unacceptable, and that he publicly communicates his concern about the potential impact of hazardous waste on the health of residents. However, he stresses that his priority is solely the urgent remediation.
"What matters to us is URGENT REMEDIATION and NOTHING ELSE," Milinović said.
In the letter, Milinović invokes his own electoral legitimacy, reminding that he won the elections for Mayor of Gospić in 2024 and 2025, both times in the first round. Additional legitimacy, as he states, was confirmed two months ago in the elections for local committees, where he won over 70 percent of the votes.
"This means that I am the LEGITIMATE representative of the citizens, not the initiatives you refer to, which had the chance to run in the local elections and thus gain legitimacy to represent citizens, which they did not do at my invitation."
The Mayor emphasizes that he supports the actions of civic initiatives, but that none of them can advocate the thesis that they represent citizens without electoral legitimacy. In this context, he also makes a direct appeal to the President to respect the will of the voters.
"The people of Gospić have decided at the ELECTIONS who represents them, and I ASK that you respect that."
In the letter, Milinović states that he respects Milanović's legitimacy, which is unquestionable, but he demands reciprocal respect for his own legitimacy and for the citizens who elected him. He is particularly hurt, as he says, that the President also belittles those citizens of Gospić who, in the presidential elections, gave their trust precisely to Milanović.
"In this way, you not only belittle me, which is less important, but you BELITTLE those who, to my surprise, also gave their trust to YOU in the presidential elections in Gospić, and to me in the local elections."
The letter concludes with a call for the President not to align himself with those who do not respect electoral legitimacy, thereby making it clear that Milinović considers the request for an extraordinary session, in the form in which it was made, an attack on local democratic will.
