8 hours agoMilanovic re-elected Croatia president, according to initial results
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)Zoran Milanovic has won the second term as president of Croatia on Sunday, according to the first results following the count of 98.65 per cent of the vote. Milanovic, from opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), is on track to win 74.58 per cent of the vote, according to the vote count by the Central Election Commission [...]
Zoran Milanovic has won the second term as president of Croatia on Sunday, according to the first results following the count of 98.65 per cent of the vote.
Milanovic, from opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), is on track to win 74.58 per cent of the vote, according to the vote count by Croatia's Central Election Commission. His opponent in Sunday's runoff, Dragan Primorac, from Croatia's ruling Democratic Union (HDZ) has won 25.42 per cent of the vote. Exit in Croatia's presidential elections ʹ the NATO member country and the European Union was 44.15 per cent, according to initial data. “Croatia, thank you”, Milanovic told reporters. “This is a big day for me personally. I see this victory as recognition of my work, a kind of people's trust in me”, he said.
The president's role in Croatia is largely ceremonial.
The head of state cannot veto the laws, though he has his word on foreign policies and on security and defence issues.
During his mandate, Milanovic a former populist prime minister has opposed Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in connection with foreign and public policies.
Who's Zoran Milanovic?
Often viewed as hot-headed and arrogant, Zoran Milanovovic in recent years has used more and more populist rhetoric and often insulting to criticise the European Union and local officials.
Graduate in Justice, he has been one of the most dominant figures in Croatia's politics for nearly two decades.
A person rides by bicycle near candidates for presidential office in Croatia. Zagreb, December 26, 2024.
As a career diplomat in the Foreign Ministry during Croatia's war for independence in the 1990s, he has later served in Zagreb's mission to the EU and NATO in Brussels.
He has entered politics in 1999, joining the Social Democratic Party (SDP), formerly a communist party, and becoming leader in 2007.
Milanovic served as prime minister from 2011 to 2016.
But his government, which has monitored Croatia's EU membership in 2013, has failed to implement much needed reforms, causing economic impasses.
After the SDP's loss in elections, Milanovic left her leadership in 2016 and withdrew from politics to work as a consultant.
Three years later, he has returned as the candidate of this party for president.
During the presidential campaign, Milanovic, 58, who has been involved in boxing in his 20s, has managed to keep his explosive temper largely under control.
He has pledged that he will be a shield against the full domination of the conservative HDZ party, which is led by his longtime rival, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
This party has been in power since 2016.
“Croatia will not be a place in which a man decides for everything”, he wrote on Facebook, referring to Plenkovics.
Milanovic is married and has two sons. / REL
