Croatia's President Milanović wins another term after defeating ruling party candidate in runoff

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia's opposition-backed President Zoran Milanović, a critic of the European Union and NATO, overwhelmingly won reelection for another five-year term on Sunday, defeating a candidate from the ruling conservative party in a runoff vote, official results showed.

Milanović won more than 74% of the vote compared to his challenger Dragan Primorac, who received nearly 26%, according to the results released by Croatia's state election authorities after more than 99% of the ballots were counted.

The result presents a major boost for Milanović, who is a critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Milanović is also a fierce opponent of Croatia's conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his government.

In a speech after the results were released, Milanović said his victory was a sign of approval and trust from the voters but also presented a message “about the state of affairs in the country for those who need to hear it.”

“I am asking them (the government) to hear it," said Milanovic. “That is what the citizens wanted to say. This is not just support for me.”

Milanović, 58, is the most popular politician in Croatia, and is sometimes compared to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.

His triumph sets the stage for a continued political confrontation with PM Plenković, with whom he sparred during his first term.

Milanović also won comfortably in the first round of voting on Dec. 29, leaving Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for president previously, and six other candidates far behind.

The runoff between the top two contenders was necessary because Milanović fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.

The election was held as Croatia, which has a population of 3.8 million, struggles with biting inflation, corruption scandals and a labor shortage.

Upon voting on Sunday, Milanović again criticized the EU 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,” Milanović 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.”

Milanović served as prime minister in the past with a mixed record.

He regularly accuses Plenković and his conservative HDZ of systemic corruption, while Plenković has labeled Milanović “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing.

Political analyst Višeslav Raos said the increasingly outspoken Milanović has no motive to “try to please someone or try to control himself.”

“If there was no cooperation with the prime minister for the first five years (of his presidency), why would there be now?” he said.

Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme military commander.

Milanović denied he is pro-Russian but last year, he 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. Plenković and his government say there is no such proposal.

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, or HDZ, since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Primorac, 59, entered politics in the early 2000s, when he was science and education minister in the HDZ-led government. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 2009, and after that mainly focused on his academic career including lecturing at universities in the United States, China and in Croatia.

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Associated Press writers Dušan Stojanović and Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.