Croatia set for runoff in presidential polls

By Lejla Biogradlija

ZAGREB (AA) – Croatia’s next president will be elected in a second round of voting on Jan. 5, according to the unofficial results of the State Election Commission (DIP) early Monday.

No candidate passed the 50% threshold after nearly all of the votes were counted in the election, in which 11 candidates competed.

Voters will be choosing between Zoran Milanovic, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and a former prime minister, who won 29.54% of the vote in the first round, and incumbent President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), who won 26.67%.

According to the first-round results, Miroslav Skoro won 24.44%, Mislav Kolakusic 5.87%, Dario Jurican 4.60%, Dalija Oreskovic 2.89%, Ivan Pernar 2.31%, Katarina Peovic 1.12%, Dejan Kovac 0.95%, Nedjeljko Babic 0.21% and Anto Djapic 0.15% of the vote.

In Croatia, there are 3,854,774 registered voters, and the turnout was 51.01%, according to DIP data.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin