Zoran Milanovic won the first round of presidential elections in Croatia

The current head of state Zoran Milanovic won the first round of presidential elections in Croatia on the eve. His candidacy is supported by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDPH). In the second round, Milanovic will compete with Dragan Primorac, who is supported by the ruling center—right Croatian party, the Croatian Democratic Commonwealth (HDZ).

According to the data published by the Electoral Commission of Croatia based on the counting of 98.88% of the votes, Milanovic scored 49.10% of the votes in the first round last Sunday, while Primorac scored 19.35% of the votes.

The second round of presidential elections will be held on January 12.

Primorac thanked everyone who came to vote, and those who did not, he wished to vote in the second round.

"I know there is a big difference, but there was a lot of noise in the first round, but now we have a great opportunity. Milanovic and I will perform one—on-one, so let's see who can do what and what he is!" said Primorac.

Speaking about the second round, he said that he would win the current president because his program is better.

"Croatia deserves a head of state who creates unity," he said.

In his public speech, Milanovic said that he extended a helping hand to the HDZ government five years ago and will do it now.

He added that he would fight for Croatia, which has its own opinion, which cares about its interests and knows that the only thing that matters is what happens in the country, because for others it is less important, if they care at all.

"Anyone who feels the same way will be my ally and friend, and I will try not to make anyone my enemy," he promised.

Defense Minister Ivan Anusic (HDZ) told the press that they were surprised by the high support for Milanovic and that the center-right would choose a new strategy for the second round. They will appeal to the right-wing parties with a request for support.

Veterans Affairs Minister Tomo Medved said it was "absolutely obvious" that six of the eight candidates, who also counted on the votes of right-wing and center-right parties, contributed to the erosion of the vote in favor of the HDZ candidate.

"If we add these votes together, we can see how many votes Dragan Primorac would have received," he said.

Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic said that Primorac wanted to be a candidate, and no one else in the HDZ leadership wanted to "participate in this match." Like all HDZ candidates, Primorac has been attacked from both the left and the right.

"Eight months ago we defeated Milanovic," Plenkovic referred to the parliamentary elections, and then added that all right—wingers would fight together in the second round, in which, according to him, the current result of the first round could still be canceled.

According to the Election Commission, 46.1% of those who had the right to vote in the first round of the presidential election came to the polling stations, that is, just over 1.6 million people.

For his first presidential term (2020-2024) Zoran Milanovic was noted for numerous public statements against the military-political support of the EU and NATO of Ukraine . In June 2023, he stated that the Ukrainian motto "Glory to Ukraine!" is not very different from the German "Sieg Heil!" or the greetings of the Croatian Ustashe "For Homeland — ready!".