Incumbent Milanovic surprisingly ahead in presidential election

Presidential election in Croatia

Incumbent Milanović is surprisingly far ahead

Updated 12/29/2024 – 8:40 p.mReading time: 2 minutes

Zoran Milanović: According to forecasts, the Croatian president was re-elected. (Source: Darko Bandic/ap)

A runoff election was actually expected in the presidential election in Croatia. Now the incumbent Zoran Milanović could have won in the first round of voting.

In the presidential election in Croatia, incumbent Zoran Milanović is heading for a victory in the race for a second term in office. After 63 percent of all votes were counted, the former Social Democrat Milanović was clearly ahead with 50.1 percent on Sunday evening. His challenger Dragan Primorac, who is supported by the conservative ruling party HDZ, can therefore expect 21.8 percent of the vote.

Post-election polls suggested an even clearer lead. According to figures from the public television station HTR, Milanović received 50.7 percent of the vote. If none of the candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election on January 12th is required.

Milanović has been one of Croatia’s leading and most colorful political figures for almost two decades. He was Prime Minister from 2011 to 2016, and the politician from the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) took over the office of head of state in 2020. He is skeptical about Western military aid for Ukraine and is considered a populist. The 58-year-old incumbent is also a critic of the European Union (EU).

In addition to Milanovićovic and Primorac, six other people ran for the highest state office, including three women. None of them were considered to have a chance of making it into the runoff election. Marija Selak-Raspudic, an independent right-wing politician, and Ivana Kekin from the green-left Mozemo party each had 8 percent of the vote, according to the first partial results.

The president in Croatia has limited powers. He is the commander in chief of the army and represents the country with around 3.8 million people at the international level. EU member country Croatia is currently struggling with high inflation, widespread corruption and a labor shortage.