Croatian President Zoran Milanovic was re-elected yesterday with a convincing majority in the second round of the presidential election in Croatia. Local media reported his victory as historic and "devastating" for the ruling party's candidate, BTA wrote in its press review.
Milanovic, supported by the largest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), received 74.68 percent of the vote, while his opponent Dragan Primorac, supported by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDU), received 25.32 percent with 100 percent of votes counted and 44.18 percent voter turnout.
"Milanovic defeats Primorac of HDU" (Index), "The new old president is Zoran Milanovic" (RTL), "Historic victory for Milanovic with the largest margin in the second round" (HRT), "Milanovic with a new mandate in (the presidency in) Pantovčak: It's (Croatian Prime Minister Andrej) Plenković's turn" (En 1), "Zoran Milanovic's dominance, a powerful victory over Dragan Primorac" (Večerni list), "Milanovic sweeps Primorac" (Jutarni list). These are some of the headlines in the local media after Zoran Milanovic's convincing victory last night.
The Croatian publication "Index" notes that Milanovic's victory comes with over one million votes, and the difference between the candidates is a record for a second round of presidential elections in Croatia. "And (the first president of independent Croatia Franjo) Tuđman did not do this", the publication also writes.
The president won his second term with 1,122,859 votes, while his opponent received only 380,752 votes.
"The Croats have made a decision - Zoran Milanović has been re-elected as President of the Republic of Croatia and will enjoy the trust of the citizens for another five years in Pantovčak", writes the website of the Croatian television RTL.
The Croatian national television HRT notes that Milanović won in all municipalities, and received the best result in the coastal city of Pula. There, 90.1 percent of voters voted for him.
In Zagreb, the president received 79.4 percent of the vote, while Primorac received 20.6 percent. In Croatia's second-largest city, Split, Milanović received 75.3 percent, while his rival received 24.7 percent.
The Croatian editorial office of the regional television channel En 1 said that, according to analysts, Milanović's new term will continue the traditional "quarrels" and lack of cooperation with the government.
Dragan Primorac, as well as Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, did not congratulate Milanović on his victory, although both in the first round and now he has stated that he hopes for cooperation with the ruling HDO party. According to analysts in the N1 studio, the election result is mostly a consequence of the difference in the authenticity of the two candidates.
"Milanović has his own politics, which are often surprising, he took positions that we did not expect, but he was also relatively consistent in them", political analyst Dragan Babić pointed out in the N1 studio. "We could not hear any authentic, new political idea from Primorac, he only recycled the messages of Plenkovic and HDO from the last few years".
The results of the presidential elections in Croatia also came into the field of view of the foreign press.
"The pro-Russian candidate easily won the Croatian presidential elections", writes "Politiko". "Milanovic remains Croatia's most popular politician, despite sporadic pro-Moscow and anti-Western statements, while as prime minister he oversaw Croatia's accession to the European Union in 2013".
Croatia, which has been dominated by Plenković's HDO since 1991, had the third-highest inflation in the eurozone in November and is struggling with a severe labor shortage, the newspaper noted. Plenković's center-right HDO party was also weakened by a corruption case in November involving former Health Minister Vili Beroš. The dispute has brought Plenković's government into conflict with the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which accused Zagreb of obstructing its investigation into systemic bribery in the country.
The Austrian news agency APA writes that the current Croatian President Milanović secured a second term with a convincing victory, and no Croatian president has ever been elected with more than 70 percent support, notes "Index".
The Slovenian news agency STA highlights the large gap between the two candidates. "Zoran Milanović has over 700,000 more votes than Dragan Primorac", notes STA. The Serbian news agency TANJUG points out that "Milanović was re-elected as president of Croatia with a historic result".
AFP notes that Milanovic, a socialist with a populist bent, was re-elected by a landslide, dealing a blow to the conservative right-wing HDO party that currently governs. "The result is another blow to the HDO and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković from his perennial political rival Milanovic after a corruption scandal in November," the agency writes.