Incumbent Milanovic to win Croatia’s presidential election: Early results

Zoran Milanovic, the opposition Social Democrats’ candidate, on track to win a second term in office, according to preliminary results.

President Zoran Milanovic is on track to win a second term in office in the first round of Croatia’s presidential election, the State Electoral Commission says.

Preliminary results from Sunday’s voting showed that based on results from nearly 52 percent of polling stations, Milanovic, the opposition Social Democratic Party’s candidate, was winning 50.1 percent of the votes, far ahead of his main challenger, Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), with 22.3 percent.

An exit poll conducted by Ipsos on Sunday also showed Milanovic, 58, was set to win.

Zoran Milanovic [File: Darko Bandic/AP]

About 3.8 million Croats were eligible to vote from among eight candidates. The post of president is mostly ceremonial.

Under Croatia’s electoral system, a candidate must secure at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off. The election will go to a second round on January 12 if none of the candidates wins a majority.

During his five-year term, which expires on February 18, Milanovic, a former prime minister, has clashed with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic over foreign and public policy 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, 30 of whose ministers have been forced to leave in recent years due to corruption allegations.

This election came as Croatia grapples with high inflation and a labour shortage.

Milanovic previously won the presidency for the Social Democrats in 2020 with promises to promote tolerance and liberal values.

While he has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Milanovic has been critical of Western military support for Kyiv, a stance that led Plenkovic to accuse him of being “pro-Russian” and “damaging” Croatia’s credibility.

In response, Milanovic argued that his aim is to protect Croatia from being “dragged into war”.

“As long as I am president, no Croatian soldier will fight in somebody else’s wars,” he said this month.