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Milanović won more than 74% of the vote compared to his challenger, conservative HDZ party’s Dragan Primorac, who received nearly 26%, according to near-final results released by the state election authorities.
ADVERTISEMENTCroatians reacted with mixed emotions after Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanović, a critic of the European Union and NATO, overwhelmingly won re-election for another five-year term on Sunday in a runoff vote.Milanović won with 1.1 million votes, almost four times the amount won by his challenger Dragan Primorac, backed by the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, who won 380,000 votes.The result presents a major boost for Milanović, who is a critic of Western military support for Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its third year.Milanović is also a fierce opponent of Croatia’s Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenković and his government.His triumph sets the stage for a continued political confrontation with Plenković, with whom he sparred throughout his first term.Milanović regularly accuses Plenković of systemic corruption, while Plenković has labelled the president “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing.Milanović denied being pro-Moscow. However, last year he blocked the dispatch of five Croatian officers to NATO’s mission in Germany, Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine.He also pledged he would never approve sending Croatian soldiers as part of any NATO mission to Ukraine. Plenković and his government say there is no such proposal.Despite limited powers, many believe the presidential position is key for the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the HDZ since gaining independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.”It seems we voted against HDZ, rather than in favour of Milanović. In any case, this is a good result, I like it. I think (Milanović) is crazy enough to oppose (Plenković) and actually achieve something,” a resident of Zagreb told an AP reporter.Another resident of the Croatian capital said Milanović had both qualities and faults, but that he had no problem with the incumbent president holding office. “I was listening to his statement this morning, when he said he would extend a hand of reconciliation, to bury the hatchet (with the government) and to continue doing everything in line with the law. If that happens, that would be great.” “But hey, maybe he changes his opinion overnight and starts saying something different tomorrow, I don’t know. You can’t trust him. But what can you do.”‘Not the Europe I want to live and work in’In a speech after the results were released, Milanović said his victory was a sign of approval and trust from the voters but also presented a message “about the state of affairs in the country for those who need to hear it.””I am asking them (the government) to hear it,” said Milanović. “That is what the citizens wanted to say. This is not just support for me.”ADVERTISEMENTMilanović is the most popular politician in Croatia and is sometimes compared to US President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.Milanović also won comfortably in the first round of voting on 29 December, leaving Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for president previously, and six other candidates far behind.The runoff between the top two contenders was necessary because Milanović fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.The election was held as Croatia, which has a population of 3.8 million, struggles with biting inflation, corruption scandals and a labour shortage.ADVERTISEMENTCasting his vote on Sunday, Milanović again criticised the EU as “in many ways non-democratic” and run by unelected officials.The EU’s position that “if you don’t think the same as I do, then you’re the enemy” amounts to “mental violence,” Milanović said.”That’s not the modern Europe I want to live and work in,” he said. “I will work on changing it, as much as I can as the president of a small nation.”Meanwhile, Primorac entered politics in the early 2000s when he was the science and education minister in the HDZ-led government.ADVERTISEMENTHe unsuccessfully ran for president in 2009 and then mainly focused on his academic career, including lecturing at universities in the US, China, and Croatia.”Zoran Milanović and me are separated by completely different spiritual, moral, professional values, as well as ideas about the future of our country,” he told his supporters in Zagreb.”The decision was made by citizens, democratically, and as such it must be respected.”
