Several Croatian cities, including the capital city of Zagreb, held New Year Eve parties in their main squares on Friday night, while a majority of big towns scrapped plans for outdoor celebrations for 2022 amid a rising number of new cases of the infection with coronavirus.

The fear of a surge in new cases due to the appearance of the Omicron variant limited the festivities that ushered in the new 2022.

The open-air New Year celebrations in Zagreb, Osijek and Dubrovnik were held in line with COVID protocols and guests attending the concerts in the squares of those cities were required to have COVID certificates.

Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević joined the revellers in the Trg Bana Jelačića Square on late Friday night and before that he visited the Kosnica shelter for the homeless and firefighters on duty.

In Osijek and Dubrovnik, the mayors also held a toast to welcome the 2022 year.

The entertainment programmes featured local pop and folk bands. There were also firework displays.

The traditional farewell parties for the outgoing 2021 year were held in the town of Fužine in the hinterland of Rijeka and some other cities at noon on Friday.