bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanovic looks set to win a second term in office according to an early election tally.
With 63 per cent of all votes counted on Sunday evening, the former social democrat Milanovic was clearly ahead with 50.1 per cent. His challenger Dragan Primorac, who is supported by the conservative ruling party HDZ, had meanwhile collected 21.8 per cent of the vote.
Post-election polls suggested an even clearer lead. According to figures from the public broadcaster HTR, Milanovic received 50.7 per cent of the vote.
If none of the candidates achieve more than 50 per cent of the vote, a presidential run-off will be called on January 12.
Originally from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Milanovic was prime minister of Croatia from 2011 to 2016.
As president, he soon adopted a populist rhetoric, appealing not only to his core left-wing voters, but also to right-wing and far-right voters.
In addition to Milanovic and Primorac, six other people ran for the highest state office, including three women. None of them were considered to have a chance of reaching the run-off.
According to the first partial results, Marija Selak-Raspudic, an independent right-wing politician, and Ivana Kekin from the green-left party Mozemo each received 8 per cent of the vote.

Some 3.8 million citizens are eligible to vote in the Balkan country, a member of the European Union since 2013. The post of president is mostly ceremonial.
During his five-year term which expires on February 18, Milanovic 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, which has seen 30 ministers forced to leave in recent years amid allegations of corrupt practices.
Additional reporting by Reuters


Croatian incumbent Milanovic headed for election victory, early results indicate

Teen stabs girl, 7, to death, wounds teacher and 3 more children in Croatia school

China benefits on all fronts as visitors soar

Croatia the latest nation to consider restricting short-term tourist rentals

Croatia

Supporter of Croatian President and presidential candidate Zoran Milanovic hold flags after the first unofficial results of Croatia’s presidential election were announced in Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Croatia’s President Zoran Milanovic. Photo: dpa

People lay candles following a deadly knife attack at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Police secure access to the junior school where a seven-year-old girl was killed in a knife attack in Zagreb, Croatia, on Friday. Photo: AP

Tourists throng the Old Town of Dubrovnik, in southern Croatia. The nation is facing rising rents driven by holiday lets to visitors that create a housing shortage. Photo: Getty Images

The old town of the southern Croatian city of Dubrovnik. Photo: AFP

Residential buildings in Split, Croatia. Photo: Reuters

A drone view of Split, Croatia. Residents are being driven out of Croatian cities because of rising rent prices caused by tourists. Photo: Reuters

Glenn Mandziuk (above), CEO of the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, presented a proposal to collect and report environmental data regarding tourism, at a recent Cop29 UN climate change conference. Photo: Reuters

Croatia arrests 4 over attack on foreign workers

Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic prior to an Informal Meeting of Heads of State or Government of the European Union in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday. Photo: AFP

Migrants crowd a smuggler’s inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel, after leaving Ecault beach in Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Neufchatel-Hardelot, northern France on October 30. Since 2023, Croatia has been part of the Schengen Area, the European Union’s common borderless regime, and enforces strict policies regarding illegal entry into the country. Croatia has faced criticism in the European Parliament for violent pushbacks of migrants by border police. Photo: AFP

Slovakia threatens Ukraine with power cuts if Russian gas flows stop as tensions deepen

A gas treatment facility in eastern Russia. Photo: TNS

New Georgian president sworn in; predecessor says he is not legitimate leader

Demonstrators hold red cards outside of the Georgian parliament. Photo: AP

Georgia’s outgoing pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili. Photo: AFP

Reclusive billionaire politician, Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili (left), embraces Georgian president-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili at his swearing-in ceremony at the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday. Photo: AP

News

World

Europe

With 63 per cent of all votes counted on Sunday evening, the former social democrat Milanovic was clearly ahead with 50.1 per cent


With 63 per cent of all votes counted on Sunday evening, the former social democrat Milanovic was clearly ahead with 50.1 per cent.


European Union

Nato

Ukraine war