The new president of Croatia was ex-prime minister, candidate from the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Zoran Milanovic. According to the election commission, just over 1 million citizens voted for him. The current head of state, the representative of the Croatian Democratic Commonwealth (CDU) Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won 929 thousand votes.

In his Facebook, Milanovic called this victory “fair.” In a speech to voters, he said that he would continue the pro-European course of development of the country. At the same time, the newly elected head of state promised to defend national interests.

Despite the fact that Croatia is a parliamentary republic, its president has a wide range of powers, especially in foreign policy. The head of state is elected for a five-year term. In the previous elections of 2014-2015, Grabar-Kitarovich by a small margin outpaced the independent candidate Ivo Yosipovich.

Surprise for Analysts

The President of Croatia was elected by a simple majority in the second round. The first round of voting took place on December 22. Milanovic received support from 29.5% of voters, Grabar-Kitarovich - 26.7%, musician Miroslav Shkoro, who was nominated as a non-party candidate, - 24.4%.

In total, 11 candidates applied for the post of head of state, most of which are representatives of the right-wing camp. Among them, in addition to Grabar-Kitarovich, include Shkoro. However, the singer, who is quite popular in society, did not call on his supporters to support the incumbent, Stevan Gayich, an employee of the Institute for European Studies in Belgrade, said in an interview with RT.

“Soon he is ideologically close to the incumbent president, nevertheless he has a negative attitude towards the CDU, and therefore did not support Grabar-Kitarovich’s candidacy. I think that Shkoro’s position actually predetermined the outcome of the election, that is, the victory of Milanovic. At least part of the musician’s electorate decided not to vote for the current president, ”Gaiich explained.

The expert recalled that Milanovic participated in the election campaign as the leader of the opposition party. In the 2016 extraordinary elections, the PSD lost to the CDU, although it won a third of the seats in parliament. Gaiich explains the victory of the socialist in the presidential election as the tiredness of society from the rhetoric of the Croatian Democratic Union.

“On the one hand, the success of the“ communist ”Milanovic is a big surprise for many analysts. On the other hand, the citizens of Croatia, in my opinion, are fed up with a pronounced pro-Western emphasis in the politics of the right. People want attention to internal affairs and problems, although the figure of the future president is very ambiguous, ”Gayich noted.

Milanovic led the Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2016. Nominally, the SDP is the successor to the Croatian branch of the Union of Communists of Yugoslavia. Milanovich was remembered for his rather tough political moves during his tenure as prime minister in 2011-2016.

Perhaps the most resonant decision of Milanovich was the refusal to accept Middle Eastern refugees in September 2015, when Europe experienced an unprecedented influx of immigrants, political scientists say. Milanovic then said that Zagreb is not going to register and place migrants.

“The European Union should know that Croatia will not become a center of attraction for migrants. We have a heart, but we have a head, ”said the head of the Croatian government.

  • Croatia Refugee Camp, 2015
  • Reuters
  • © Antonio Bronic

Milanovic emphasized that Croatia can only fulfill the function of a transit territory. Zagreb began to redirect refugee flows to other countries. For example, on September 18, the Hungarian authorities detained on their territory a train with migrants, in which there were 40 Croatian policemen. Budapest accused Zagreb of violating sovereignty.

Also in the midst of the migration crisis, the Milanovic’s government ruined relations with Serbia, which was trying to establish control over the flows of immigrants. In September 2015, Zagreb blocked border crossings for several days. Belgrade, according to Milanovic, ignored proposals to organize the transportation of migrants.

In a conversation with RT, senior researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Pivovarenko, described the period of Milanovich’s premiership as “not very successful.” According to him, a series of crises faced by the country led to the fact that the politician was forced to resign as head of government. At the same time, the expert explains his current triumph as a factor of “protest vote”.

“The victory of Milanovic is to some extent a consequence of disappointment with the policies of the incumbent president, which could not solve systemic problems. However, Milanovich is unlikely to be able to do this, given the results of his premiership, ”Pivovarenko said.

Hot issues

Relations with Serbia remain one of the main problems of Croatia’s foreign policy, analysts say. However, the parties cannot establish a full-fledged dialogue. In addition, in 2019 there were several incidents that, experts believe, indicate the absence of prerequisites for the normalization of contacts at the highest level.

In February last year, the Serbian Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to the Croatian Embassy because of the beating of three players of the water polo team of the Serbian club Crvena Zvezda in a cafe in Split. Unidentified people armed with batons and armature attacked the athletes before the match with the local Mornar team.

In September, Croatian border guards did not let the cadets of the military academy of Serbia, who were sent to the ceremony in memory of the victims of the Jasenovac concentration camp. Zagreb saw a provocation in the visit of future officers. In turn, the President of Serbia, Alexander Vučić, accused the Croats of not wanting to “remember their past and what happened in World War II,” hinting at the well-known facts of Croat aiding the German invaders.

In February, Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic at the sidelines of a conference dedicated to the memory of the former Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin, said that the threat to Belgrade is the glorification of Nazism in the Balkans, including in Croatia, as well as the expansion of NATO in the region.

Alexander Pivovarenko believes that many unresolved problems remain between Belgrade and Zagreb, including the payment of compensation for the alleged genocide during the 1991-1995 war.

In July 1999, Croatia filed a lawsuit against Serbia with the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. However, its consideration began only in 2008, and in 2010 Belgrade filed a counterclaim. In February 2015, a UN court completed the process without finding the fault of Serbia and Croatia.

“The parties did not come to terms with this decision and continue to demand compensation from each other. The issues of refugees and the situation of national minorities are also acute. In principle, these are solvable problems, but the search for a compromise can be extended for a rather long period, ”Pivovarenko argues.

  • Croatian soldiers during the 1991-1995 war
  • Reuters

In turn, Stevan Gayich is confident that during the presidency of Milanovic one should not expect positive progress in relations between Belgrade and Zagreb.

“Milanovic cannot be called a radical. It can be attributed to the camp of moderate nationalists, despite the formal affiliation with socialism. Perhaps his rhetoric towards Belgrade will soften somewhat, but I still don’t see any prerequisites for improving relations with Serbia and solving key problems, ”concluded Gajić.