Pro-Moscow candidate leads rival by almost 4:1 margin according to exit poll.
Croatian President Zoran Milanović looks to have won a commanding victory in the runoff round of his country’s presidential election Sunday, according to exit polls.
Milanović remains Croatia’s most popular politician, his history of pro-Moscow and anti-Western statements contrasting with his having overseen the nation’s 2013 accession to the European Union as its then-prime minister. He previously won the presidency in 2020 with the support of Croatia’s main opposition Social Democratic Party.
According to exit polls, Milanović is set to defeat his opponent, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, by a margin of 77.9 percent to 22.1 percent. He has long been the favorite to win the vote, coming just shy of an outright majority (on 49.1 percent) in the Dec. 29 first round.
Plenković, backed by the governing center-right HDZ party, was weakened by a November corruption case implicating a former health minister in his cabinet, Vili Beros. The dispute brought Plenković’s government into conflict with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which accused Zagreb of preventing it from investigating systemic graft.
Croatia, which has been dominated by Plenković’s HZD since 1991, had the third-highest inflation rate in the eurozone in November and is battling a labor shortage.
