Croatia’s opposition-backed president, essential of the European Union and NATO, overwhelmingly received one other five-year time period on Sunday, defeating a candidate from the ruling conservative celebration in a runoff, outcomes confirmed virtually full officers.
Milanović received virtually 74% of the vote, whereas his challenger Dragan Primorac gained round 26%, based on outcomes launched by Croatian state electoral authorities after greater than 70% of the votes have been counted.
Milanović, 58, is an outspoken critic of Western navy help for Ukraine. He is the preferred politician in Croatia and is typically in comparison with US President-elect Donald Trump for his combative type of speaking with political opponents.
On Sunday he once more criticized Brussels as “in some ways undemocratic” and run by unelected officers. The EU’s place that “if you happen to do not suppose like me, then you’re the enemy” quantities to “a psychological difficulty”. violence,” Milanović mentioned.
“This shouldn’t be the fashionable Europe I wish to stay and work in,” he mentioned. “I’ll work to alter that, as a lot as I can as president of a small nation.”
Opinion polls earlier than the second spherical had predicted Milanović’s victory, however simply as within the first spherical that they had not appropriately assessed how convincing that victory can be: Milanović bought 16% extra and Primorac 6% fewer votes .
His triumph additionally units the stage for an ongoing confrontation with the highly effective Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. The conflict between the 2 throughout Milanović’s first time period marked Croatian politics.
Zoran Milanović turns into the third Croatian president in historical past to reach acquiring re-election, earlier than him solely Franjo Tuđman and Stjepan Mesić managed to take action.
In Croatia the presidency is basically ceremonial, however an elected president holds political authority and is the supreme navy commander.
