Social Democrats Win Croatia's Presidential Election: Polls

Social Democrat opposition candidate Zoran Milanovic won Sunday the second and final round of Croatia's presidential election with 54 percent of the vote, while his contender, the incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic of the ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), obtained about 46 percent, according to exit polls.

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"Thank you! Thanks to all volunteers, all of you who were my support over these six months. Thank you, people," Milanovic wrote to his supporters on Facebook.

Prime minister from 2011 to 2015, Milanovic ran this election campaign on a promise to fight corruption, which he said had been on the rise since the conservatives took up power.

In the first round of the election two weeks ago, the former PM came ahead 11 other candidates with 29.6 percent of votes, and Grabar-Kitarovic in second place with 26.7 percent.

Grabar-Kitarovic and her HDZ party have struggled to unite a fragmented right-wing and have lost an enormous lead in opinion polls over the past six months. 

The Social Democrats and the HDZ have been dominating the political scene in Croatia since the country separated from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Both parties are striving for the upper hand in parliamentary elections in December.

“Milanovic’s victory would consolidate the Social Democrats and strengthen the party ahead of a parliamentary vote,” political analyst Branko Caratan told state television.

The vote comes as the country has been struggling with corruption, a dull economy and a mass migration of its population in search of better work opportunities abroad.

The president’s role is largely ceremonial in the Southeast European country. The head of state cannot veto laws, but has a say in foreign policy, defense and security matters.