“According to exit polls, the current president of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, won 51.48% of the vote.”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Croats were elected from eight candidates. The office of the president is mostly ceremonial.
Incumbent Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, who is backed by the opposition leftist Social Democrats, won 51.48% of the vote, while Dragan Primorac, backed by the ruling conservative CDU party, came second with 19.29%, exit polls showed.
Milanovic is also leading in public opinion polls, the latest of which was published on Friday by the Nova TV Daily News channel and showed that he has 37.2% support against Primorac’s 20.4%.
If none of the candidates receives a majority of votes, a second round of elections will be held on January 12.
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During his five-year term, Milanovych clashed with Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovich on foreign and state policy issues, and harshly criticized the European Union and NATO for their support of Ukraine.
Milanovich was repeatedly called a pro-Russian politician, although he denied it. Previously, the president of Croatia spoke against the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO, as well as against the training of Ukrainian troops in Croatia as part of EU efforts. Milanovych also criticized Western countries for supplying Ukraine with tanks and other weapons, saying that these efforts would only prolong the war.
Although the position of president in Croatia is largely ceremonial, Milanović has a say in matters of foreign policy, defense and security. His anti-Western statements drew criticism from the country’s government, which supported Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.