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In Croatia, the Social Democratic candidate Zoran Milanovic leads in the first round of the presidential election (left) and the outgoing president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (right). Editing RFI Reuters / Marko Djurica / Antonio Bronic

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, outgoing Conservative Head of State, will face off in the second round of the Croatian presidential election Zoran Milanovic, a former Social Democratic Prime Minister, according to the official results of the first round of counting the votes in nearly 98% of the polling stations.

According to the partial results published by the Election Commission, the former head of the center-left government Zoran Milanovic won 29.56% of the votes before the outgoing president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (26.75%) and Miroslav Skoro, a populist singer on the right (24.40%). A total of 3.8 million voters are registered for this ballot after the more than ever uncertain outcome.

The former center-left Prime Minister who came out on top undertook to make Croatia a " normal country " with an independent judiciary, which respects minorities. If his supporters salute his determination, his protesters denounce his arrogance. Zoran Milanovic, 53, was between 2011 and 2016 the head of a government that had disappointed because he had failed to end the corruption and develop the economy.

Patriotic singer

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, 51, supported by the HDZ (center-right), which has dominated political life since independence in 1991, had gone into the campaign with a comfortable advance. But it has continued to give ground in the polls despite its sway between the moderates of the HDZ and the nationalist wing of his party.

In third place comes Miroslav Skoro (24.4%), 57, an artist who became popular in the 1990s with titles with a patriotic content. He had promised to deploy the army at the border to prevent migrants from the Middle East, Africa or Asia from crossing from Bosnia. He also said he wanted to pardon a man convicted of war crimes against Serb civilians during the 1991-1995 conflict.

Presidency of the European Union

On January 1, five days before the second round, the Croatian government will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union. During his six-month mandate, the issue of Brexit, scheduled for January 31, but also that of the possible entry of countries from the Western Balkans will be on the table.

(With AFP)