Croatian President Zoran Milanovic won the presidential elections on Sunday with an absolute majority of votes, according to projections based on polls that would avoid holding the second round that polls predicted, reported public television Nova TV.

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The projections released after the polls closed indicate that Milanovic has secured 51.4% of the votes, followed far behind by conservative scientist Dragan Primorac with 19%.

Pre-election surveys predicted a clear victory for Milanovic, but without 40%, which would have necessitated a runoff between the two top candidates.

Current projections show conservative Marija Selak Raspudic, who ran as an independent, in third place with 9% of the votes, followed by Ivana Kekin since its separation from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Since taking office in 2020, Milanovic has taken a turn from the social democratic principles that defended populist, eurosceptic, nationalist positions and while promising loyalty to Croatia’s allies in the European Union (EU) and NATO, he has assured that for him this does not mean becoming a “puppet of others”, as in his opinion Plenkovic is already.

About 3.8 million Croats were called to the polls today to elect the person who will lead the country for the next five years.

According to Croatian law, the president is mainly responsible for important representative functions, while also having powers in defense as the commander of the armed forces, as well as some authority in foreign policy.

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