Croatian President Re-Elected in Wide Margin
Zoran Milanovic, Croatia’s incumbent president, was re-elected on January 12. He won by a wide margin of 74.7% to 25.3%.
Milanovic defeated Dragan Primorac, the candidate from Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic‘s party. The election had a turnout of around 44% of eligible voters.
Milanovic is known for being critical of Western aid to Ukraine and Croatia joining NATO. He has previously called Ukraine’s 2014 protests a “coup d‘état” and criticized Western allies and Ukraine for not respecting the Minsk Agreements.
In October, Milanovic refused to approve Croatian soldiers participating in NATO’s mission to support Ukraine.
This election is a setback for Plenkovic’s government, which was recently involved in a corruption scandal. Milanovic was first elected president in 2020 with the support of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The SDP leader said that this is the beginning of the end for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
Croatia has supported military aid to Ukraine and delivered helicopters. However, the government’s stance on Western aid is different from Milanovic’s views.
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