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Croatia elects leftist Zoran Milanović to be next president
Croatia's new president vows to make country a more tolerant place
(about 13 hours later)
The former prime minister won a presidential run-off against conservative incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Zoran Milanović wins runoff against conservative incumbent after election trail marked by rightward shift
Croatia’s leftist former prime minister Zoran Milanović, who has pledged to make his nation a more tolerant place and turn the page on its wartime past, will be his country’s next president after defeating the incumbent conservative in a run-off vote.
Croatia’s newly elected centre-left president has pledged to make the country a more tolerant place after denying a second term to the rightwing incumbent, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
Milanović took 52.7% of the vote in Sunday’s run-off, while president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who had tried to unite a fractured right-wing, garnered 47.3%, according to results based on a vote count from nearly all polling stations released by the electoral commission.
Zoran Milanović won 52.7% of the vote in a second-round runoff against Grabar-Kitarović on Sunday, a few days after the country assumed the rotating presidency of the EU.
The second-round election was held just days after Croatia took over the European Union’s helm for a six-month period, which will be dominated by Brexit and the bloc’s enlargement.
“If this narrow but fair and clear victory brought a little faith and a little spirit into this society of ours and among these people, I am a happy man, and let us rejoice together!” Milanović told a crowd at his campaign headquarters in Zagreb on Sunday evening.
At the same time, the EU’s newest member is struggling with a mass exodus of its people, corruption and a lacklustre economy.
A former prime minister from the Social Democrat party, Milanović has promised to turn the page on the country’s wartime past, and advocated for Croatia becoming a “normal country” during his campaign.
Grabar-Kitarović campaigned on a slogan promoting the “real Croatia”, hinting that she believed the ruling conservative HDZ party that backed her was the only one that can truly represent the country.
“Let’s be united in (our) differences,” the 53-year-old told his supporters. “Four million of us … are looking for our place in Europe, which is, despite all the problems, the nicest place to live, the most peaceful project in which Croatia must find its place and interest,” he said.
Milanović, a Social Democrat, called such statements “very dangerous” and advocated a vision of a “normal Croatia” as a liberal democracy that promoted equality for all citizens.
On Sunday evening, Grabar-Kitarović conceded defeat and promised a “civilised transfer” of power to Milanović. The Croatian presidency is a largely symbolic role, but analysts said the shift to the right during the campaign had threatened to poison public debate.
“Four million of us ... are looking for our place in Europe which is, despite all the problems, the nicest place to live, the most peaceful project in which Croatia must find its place and interest,” Milanović told supporters in Zagreb after his victory.
Grabar-Kitarović, who rose to international prominence during Croatia’s run to the World Cup final in Russia in 2018, had initially been favourite to win the race, but ran an uncertain campaign marred by gaffes. Her campaign veered into hard-right territory in order to see off the first-round challenge of a nationalist singer, Miroslav Škoro, but in the end failed to unite the country’s right wing.
“Let’s be united in (our) differences,” the 53-year-old said.
She had based her campaign around patriotism and pride in Croatian history, and made references to the 1990s wars during her campaign. She also received a controversial endorsement from Julienne Busić, who was jailed together with her husband after hijacking a passenger flight from New York to Chicago in 1976 to draw attention to Croatian demands for independence from Yugoslavia. Grabar-Kitarović’s HDZ party ran videos of the endorsement, drawing criticism.
In the campaign Milanović stressed that the “wars are over”, referring to the 1990s independence war that remains an emotive issue.
The HDZ is split between centre-right and hard-right elements, and analysts said it was possible that Grabar-Kitarović’s defeat could lead the party to move back towards the centre before parliamentary elections later this year. Such a move is favoured by Andrej Plenković, the HDZ prime minister. Speaking on Monday, Plenković said his party would analyse the result to understand why it lost.
Grabar-Kitarović, 51, the country’s first female president, had tried but failed to lure back hardliners who had voted for a nationalist folk singer in the presidential election’s first round in December.
Milanović was prime minister from 2011 to 2016, and overcame a reputation as an out-of-touch elitist to win the presidential vote. Analysts attributed his victory as much to a protest vote against Grabar-Kitarović as an endorsement of his candidacy.
She stressed unity, patriotism and references to the 1990s war in her re-election bid.
He will take charge of the country during Croatia’s EU presidency, a period in which the bloc’s agenda is likely to be dominated by the post-Brexit fallout and debate over whether the EU should press ahead with enlargement plans and take in Croatia’s fellow western Balkan states.
Conceding defeat on Sunday evening, Grabar-Kitarović promised a “civilised transfer” of power to Milanović.
Croatia was the last country to join the EU, in 2013, and this is the first time it has held the presidency.
She stressed that Croatia needed stability and unity as “we are the strongest when we are together”.
Analysts say that Milanović, who dominated in the cities, also won thanks in part to the split among the rightwingers.
The election was viewed as a key test for the ruling HDZ party of moderate prime minister Andrej Plenković, ahead of parliamentary elections later this year. Grabar-Kitarović’s loss was seen as a heavy blow.
Political analyst Tihomir Cipek said the result would weaken the HDZ party and harm Plenković’s reputation,
The prime minister is also facing the discontent of hardliners within the HDZ over his moderate policies.
Grabar-Kitarović presented herself as a “woman of the people” with humble farming roots. She is well known for stunts such as singing in public, which her critics deride as embarrassing.
She also came under fire for downplaying the crimes committed by Croatia’s second world war pro-Nazi regime.
Milanović, who was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and whose government failed to push through much-needed reforms, was seeking to make a political comeback and throw off a reputation as arrogant and elitist.
He will now take office during a Croatian EU presidency in which four main issues are likely to dominate: the bloc’s relationship with the UK after Brexit; the membership bids of Western Balkan states; climate change; and the bloc’s budget framework for the next decade.
Croatia joined the EU in 2013, but its economy, strongly relying on tourism, remains one of the bloc’s weakest. The EU’s open borders have accelerated the exodus of its people, seeking better pay in wealthier member states.
Many emigrants also cite corruption, nepotism and poor public services as reasons for leaving.
“Politicians are wrangling about the past and insignificant issues while my generation is leaving,” said Maja Marić, a 20-year-old economics student. She said she voted for a “lesser evil”.
