By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent
ZAGREB/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, a critic of the European Union and NATO aid to Ukraine, won the first round of presidential elections on Sunday. Still, he did not receive enough votes to avoid a runoff on January 12.
Election officials said Milanovic, backed by the opposition Social Democrats, won 49.1 percent support after ballots from all polling stations had been counted.
His primary challenger, Dragan Primorac – the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) – won 19.35 percent support.
Despite his rhetoric perceived as populist, Milanovic is seen by Croatian voters as a counterweight to the HDZ government, where
Thirty ministers had to resign for corruption allegations.
Official data showed that some 3.8 million Croatians could vote for eight presidential candidates, including three women, but less than half bothered to cast ballots.
Independent candidate Marija Selak Raspudic came third with 9.25 percent support.
Though the post of president is primarily ceremonial, he has a say in foreign policy, defense, and security matters.
Milanovic, known for his harsh criticism of the government, sent a reconciliatory message, saying he would offer a hand to the government during uncertainty. “My program offers everything that Croatia needs – unity, a better life, a care for the youth… a care for pensioners,” he said.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Residents on Luzon Island, the largest and most populated island of the Philippines, assessed the damage early Monday after a sleepless night when Super Typhoon Fung-wong, locally known as Uwan, killed at least two people and injured several others.
More than 50 prominent Christian leaders are calling on President Trump to directly confront Syria’s new president about the ongoing persecution of religious minorities when the two leaders meet Monday at the White House, marking a historic first for U.S.-Syria relations.
In a decisive break from Democratic obstruction that has paralyzed the federal government for over a month, the U.S. Senate on Sunday night voted 60-40 to advance legislation ending the record-breaking 40-day government shutdown, marking a significant victory for Republican fiscal discipline and President Donald Trump’s healthcare reform agenda.
A group of Hamas fighters trapped inside tunnels on the Israeli-controlled side of the Rafah ceasefire line have vowed not to surrender to Israeli forces, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced Sunday, in a move that could jeopardize the fragile month-old ceasefire in Gaza.
Archaeologists in Jerusalem have uncovered an extraordinary 2,700-year-old pottery fragment inscribed with Assyrian cuneiform near the Temple Mount — the first written evidence of direct contact between the Assyrian Empire and the Kingdom of Judah ever discovered in the city. The find, announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), offers striking confirmation of the biblical narrative of King Hezekiah’s resistance to Assyrian domination recorded in II Kings 18.
Iranian officials are warning of imminent water rationing—and even the potential evacuation of Tehran—as the nation faces its worst drought in nearly a century.
A Christian widow in Pakistan’s Punjab province is devastated after her married daughter went missing, while elsewhere in the region, a mother of four and a mother of six have also disappeared following alleged abductions by Muslim men, Worthy News learned Saturday.