Croatia’s presidential election: Zoran Milanovic set to win second term, exit poll shows

Croatia’s outspoken President Zoran Milanovic won Sunday’s election in the first round, according to an exit poll. He received more than 50 percent of the vote.

Around 3.8 million Croats are eligible to vote for one of eight candidates, three of whom are women, ranging from the left to the right of the political spectrum. The post of president is mostly ceremonial.

Milanovic, the opposition Socialist Democrats’ candidate, is running for a second term. His main challenger is Dragan Primorac, a former science minister backed by the governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Milanovic, backed by the opposition left-wing Social Democrats, won 51.48 percent of the vote while Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling conservative HDZ party, came second with 19.29 percent, showed the exit poll released by the state-run HRT television immediately after polling stations closed.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

The election comes as the European Union and NATO member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, widespread corruption and a labour shortage.

Although Milanovic was considered the strong favourite, surveys suggested that none of the candidates would garner more than 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright and avoid a runoff in two weeks.

If the official results, due later on Sunday, confirm Milanovic’s win in the first round, it would mark a serious blow to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s HDZ. Among the eight contenders, two women MPs—centre-right MP Marija Selak Raspudic and green-left Ivana Kekin—followed the two main rivals, the exit poll showed. They won around eight percent of the vote each.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

During his five-year term which expires on Feb. 18, Milanovic, a former prime minister, has clashed with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic over foreign and public policies, and has fiercely criticised the European Union and NATO over their support for Ukraine.

The president cannot veto laws, but has a say in foreign policy, defence and security matters.

Despite his populist rhetoric, Milanovic is seen by many as the only counterbalance to the HDZ-dominated government, which has seen 30 ministers forced to leave in recent years amid allegations of corrupt practices.

With inputs from agencies.