"The US Ambassador supported the activities of the Association of Towns, stressing that Croatia should continue administrative and fiscal decentralisation and that the central government should consult with the Association in adopting regulations of vital importance to local self-government units," the statement said.
The Association's Chairman and Mayor of Rijeka, Vojko Obersnel, said he was displeased with the way in which the amendments to the Law on the Funding of Local and Regional Self-Government Units had been prepared and adopted, adding that local self-government units and the government's Commission for Decentralisation had not been consulted.
The Association thanked the US Ambassador for the technical and financial support provided by the US Agency for International Development, the statement said.
The Alliance of Associations of Towns and Municipalities is the umbrella organisation of local self-government units. It was established in June 2002 when the Association of Towns and the Association of Municipalities joined to promote the common interests of local self-government units in Croatia.
The Alliance is a non-governmental and non-party association established in accordance with the Law on Local and Regional Self-Government.