Mon 06 January 2020
Former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who has pledged to make Croatia a tolerant country turning the page on its wartime past, has won Sunday’s presidential runoff, defeating the incumbent conservative leader.
Milanovic, the Social Democrat candidate, took 52.7 percent of the vote, while President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who had tried to unite a fractured right-wing, garnered 47.3 percent, according to results based on vote count at nearly all polling stations released by the electoral commission. The turnout was about 55 percent.
The second-round election was held just days after Croatia took over the European Union’s helm for a six-month period, which will be dominated by Brexit and the bloc’s enlargement.
At the same time, the EU’s newest member is struggling with a mass exodus of its people, corruption and a lacklustre economy at home.
Grabar-Kitarovic campaigned on a slogan promoting “real Croatia”, hinting she believes the ruling conservative HDZ party that backed her was the only one who can truly represent the country.
Milanovic called such statements “very dangerous”, and advocated for a “normal Croatia” as a liberal democracy which promotes equality for all citizens.
“Four million of us … are looking for our place in Europe which is, despite all the problems, the nicest place to live, the most peaceful project in which Croatia must find its place and interest,” Milanovic told supporters in Zagreb after his victory.
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