ZAGREB, Croatia
P.A.
—
Croatian President Zoran Milanović, supported by the opposition and a critic of the European Union and NATO, was re-elected by an overwhelming majority on Sunday for a new five-year term, defeating a candidate from the ruling conservative party in the second round, according to official results.
Milanović won more than 74% of the vote, against his opponent Dragan Primorac, who received almost 26%, according to results released by Croatian state election authorities after more than 99% of ballots were counted .
This result constitutes a major advantage for Milanović, who criticizes Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Milanović is also a fierce opponent of conservative Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his government.
In his speech after the results were published, Milanović said his victory was a sign of voters’ approval and confidence, but he also presented a message “about the situation in the country to those who need it.” hear “.
“I ask them (the government) to hear it,” Milanovic said. “That’s what the citizens wanted to say. It’s not just support for me.
Milanović, 58, is Croatia’s most popular politician and is sometimes compared to US President-elect Donald Trump for his combative communication style with his political opponents.
His triumph paves the way for a continued political confrontation with Prime Minister Plenković, with whom he fought during his first term.
Milanović also comfortably won the first round of voting on December 29, leaving Primorac, a forensic doctor who had run unsuccessfully for president before, and six other candidates far behind.
The runoff between the two main candidates was necessary as Milanović failed to obtain 50% of the vote with only 5,000 votes, while Primorac was far behind with 19%.
The elections took place as Croatia, which has a population of 3.8 million, grapples with soaring inflation, corruption scandals and a labor shortage.
During the vote on Sunday, Milanović again criticized the EU as being “in many respects undemocratic” and run by unelected officials. The EU’s position that “if you don’t think like me, then you are the enemy” amounts to “mental violence”, Milanović said.
“This is not the modern Europe I want to live and work in,” he said. “I will work to change it, as much as possible as president of a small nation.”
Milanović has served as prime minister in the past with a mixed record.
He regularly accuses Plenković and his conservative HDZ party of systemic corruption, while Plenković has called Milanović “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international reputation.
Political analyst Višeslav Raos said the increasingly outspoken Milanović had no reason “to try to please anyone or to try to control himself.”
“If there was no cooperation with the prime minister during the first five years (of his presidency), why would there be any now? he said.
Although the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme military commander.
Milanović has denied being pro-Russian, but last year he blocked the sending of five Croatian officers to the NATO mission in Germany called Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine. He also promised that he would never approve sending Croatian soldiers to a NATO mission in Ukraine. Plenković and his government claim that no such proposal exists.
Despite limited powers, many believe the presidential post is essential to the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, since its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Primorac, 59, entered politics in the early 2000s, when he was minister of science and education in the HDZ-led government. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2009, then focused primarily on his academic career, including lecturing at universities in the United States, China, and Croatia.