The incumbent President of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, secured around 75% of the votes, while Dragan Primorac garnered approximately 25% of the votes cast in the second round of the presidential elections in Croatia, according to the preliminary results announced by the electoral commission.
After the announcement of the exit poll results, which indicated a decisive victory for Milanović, he took to Facebook with a brief message that simply read: “Thank you.”
Primorac, in an unusual move for election practices, addressed the public from his campaign headquarters shortly after 8 PM, thanking the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) and his supporters for their backing.
Milanović not only secured another term at Pantovčak but also achieved a historic result, delivering the largest percentage margin of victory in a second-round presidential election in Croatia since the year 2000.
His victory is also significant in terms of the absolute number of voters, as the incumbent president received around 110,000 more votes than he did five years ago, with a chance of surpassing one million votes for the first time in an election.
The heavy electoral defeat for Primorac represents a blow to the ruling party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which had been victorious in the two previous elections held over the past nine months: the European Parliament elections and the Croatian parliamentary elections.
Photo: Zoran Milanović/Facebook