Exit polls published after the polls closed in Croatia’s presidential run-off on Sunday showed incumbent Zoran Milanovic winning re-election with an overwhelming majority against a candidate from the ruling conservative party.
The polls, conducted by Ipsos polling agency and published by state television station HRT, said Mr Milanovic won nearly 78% of the vote compared to his challenger Dragan Primorac, who gained about 22%.
Official results were expected later in the evening.
The left-leaning Mr Milanovic comfortably won the first round of voting on December 29, leaving Mr Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for president previously, and six other candidates far behind.
Presidential candidate Dragan Primorac casts his ballot at a polling station in Zagreb (Darko Bandic/AP)
“I am hoping for a victory,” Mr Milanovic said after voting on Sunday. “I believe in victory because I think I am worth it and because it is important, primarily because it is important.”
The run-off between the top two contenders was necessary because Mr Milanovic fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Mr Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.
The election comes as the European Union and Nato member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, corruption scandals and a labour shortage.
Mr Milanovic, 58, is an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
He is the most popular politician in Croatia, and is sometimes compared to US President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.
On Sunday, he again criticised Brussels as “in many ways non-democratic” and run by unelected officials. The EU position that “if you don’t think the same as I do, then you’re the enemy” amounts to “mental violence”, Mr Milanovic said.
“That’s not the modern Europe I want to live and work in,” he said. “I will work on changing it, as much as I can as the president of a small nation.”
Mr Milanovic served as prime minister in the past with a mixed record. He has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the pair have long sparred with each other.
Mr Milanovic regularly accuses Mr Plenkovic and his conservative Croatian Democratic Union party of systemic corruption, while Mr Plenkovic has labelled Mr Milanović “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing.
Despite limited powers, many believe the presidential position is key for the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Mr Milanovic denied he is pro-Russian but last year blocked the dispatch of five Croatian officers to Nato’s mission in Germany called Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine.
He also pledged he would never approve sending Croatian soldiers as part of any Nato mission to Ukraine. Mr Plenkovic and his government say there is no such proposal.