Croatian President Zoran Milanović Wins Re-Election in Landslide Victory, Record Invalid Votes in Dalmatia and Zagreb

Croatia's incumbent President Zoran Milanovic won a landslide victory with 74.68% of the vote in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday. He defeated HDZ candidate Dragan Primorc, who received 25.32% of the vote, garnering more than a million votes and thus once again became the President of the Republic of Croatia, Index and Dnevnik write.

According to the Election Commission, voter turnout on Sunday was almost 44%, slightly lower than in the first round.

In the second round of the presidential election, there were 57,209 or 3.67 per cent of invalid ballots, the highest number in the Dalmatian districts and the city of Zagreb, and the lowest in the north of the country. This is according to the State Election Commission.

Abroad, 476 invalid ballots were recorded, or 2.23 per cent.

In the first round of the election, on 29 December, the number of invalid ballots was much lower. It was 18,786 (1.16 per cent).

Five years ago, when HDZ's Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and Zoran Milanović competed in the second round of the presidential election, there were 89,415 or 4.35 per cent of invalid ballots.

Milanović's result is the highest by a presidential candidate since Croatia gained independence in 1991.

At a meeting with supporters in Zagreb, 58-year-old Milanovic said: ‘Croatia, thank you. I see this victory as recognition of my work over the past five years and as a message from the Croatian people to those who need to hear it.’

Milanovic remains Croatia's most popular politician, with a history of pro-Moscow and anti-Western statements that contrast with his overseeing the country's accession to the European Union in 2013 as its then-prime minister. He previously won the 2020 election with the support of Croatia's main opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP).