Shorouk Express
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 (SDP).
“This is the beginning of the end for [PM] Andrej Plenković,” said SDP leader Sinisa Hajdaš Dončić, speaking from Milanović’s election headquarters Sunday night.
Plenković’s center-right HDZ party was weakened by a November corruption case implicating a former health minister, 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 in the country.
“Primorac was a bad candidate,” said Dragan Bagić, a sociology professor at the University of Zagreb, commenting for the Večernji list Croatian daily. “This is a defeat of the myth that HDZ has a terribly large loyal base.”
Croatia, which has been dominated by Plenković’s HDZ since 1991, had the third-highest inflation rate in the eurozone in November and is battling a dire shortage of labor.
