Zoran Milanovic Takes Up His Second Term as President of Croatia
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic (R), Feb. 18, 2025. X/ @faktorba
February 18, 2025 Hour: 9:44 am
On January 12, he was reelected with 75% of the vote against 25% for conservative candidate Dragan Primorac.
On Tuesday, Zoran Milanović began his second term as president of Croatia in a ceremony marked by the absence of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s conservative government.
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“War is the most profound and poisonous social disorder,” Milanović stated, without referring to specific conflicts, but on the same day that the U.S. and Russia initiated talks in Riyadh to seek an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
In his speech, the president said that advocating for diplomacy does not mean betraying Croatia’s international alliances, referring to his critical stance toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and his opposition to sending Croatian soldiers to train Ukrainian troops.
Milanović was reelected on January 12 with 75% of the vote against 25% for conservative candidate Dragan Primorac, in an election with over 50% abstention.
His relationship with Prime Minister Plenković, who was absent from the presidential inauguration, is highly contentious, marked by public confrontations and even mutual insults.
As a result, Croatia has gone five years without appointing ambassadors, with Milanović accusing the prime minister of corruption, while Plenković labels him pro-Russian and accuses him of attempting to change the country’s foreign policy.
Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković acknowledged the need to improve cooperation between the government and the presidency, particularly in foreign policy, where Milanović holds certain powers.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
