Zoran Milanovic wins Croatia election

According to the SEC, with 99.59% of the votes counted, Mr. Milanovic won 74.67% of the votes, far ahead of candidate Primorac who only had 25.33% of the votes. Also according to the SEC, there were more than 3.7 million eligible voters and the turnout rate in the second round of the presidential election was about 44.15%.

Speaking at his campaign headquarters, Mr Milanovic said the second round result showed the Croatian people's trust in him. "I consider this as an approval of my work over the past five years, this victory is a great recognition for me, an act of trust from the people in me," Mr Milanovic said.

In addition, Mr. Milanovic also called for cooperation between himself, supported by the Social Democratic Party - the largest opposition party, and the Croatian government led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Meanwhile, candidate Dragan Primorac of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, admitted defeat, expressing respect for the voters' decision.

Two weeks ago, in the first round of voting, President Milanovic led with 49.09% of the vote. Meanwhile, the HDZ-backed candidate Primorac received only 19.35% of the vote. Therefore, the two politicians had to face off in the second round because no one won a majority of votes.

Just ahead of the second round of the presidential election on January 12, the latest opinion polls showed that Mr Milanovic would win, with 62.5% of respondents expressing support for Mr Milanovic compared to 27.8% for Mr Primorac.

Mr. Milanovic, born in 1966, was first elected president in elections held five years ago. He previously worked as a diplomat in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and served as Croatian Prime Minister from December 2011 to January 2016. Some Western media outlets have described Mr. Milanovic as “anti-NATO”.

According to the constitution, although the President of Croatia cannot veto bills, he still has an important role in foreign policy, defense and security. The President of Croatia serves a five-year term and can run for re-election once.