Kasich Ohio Win Fails to Set Croatia Aflame

The success of Ohio Governor John Kasich, who defeated Donald Trump in the race for the Republican nomination in his home state on Tuesday, has stirred interest in his Croatian origins.

Kasich's mother is the daughter of Croatian immigrants, while his father's family came from former Czechoslovakia.

Despite his Croatian roots, the Croatian media seem far from excited by his success and only some of them reported his triumph in Ohio, when he won 46 per cent of the votes, ahead of Donald Trump's 36 per cent.

The Croatian media only showed interest in Kasich last week when he talked of his immigrant roots in a TV duel with all the other Republican candidates.

"I believe in immigration? the simple fact of the matter is I wouldn't be standing here, I would maybe be running for the president of Croatia, if we didn't have immigration [to the US]," he said, praising immigration for its benefits of bringing "youth, vibrancy and energy".

Although tougher on immigration in his early years in politics, at a Republican Governors Association meeting in Florida in 2014 he expressed willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for "undocumented immigrants".

During the campaign he has also talked about creating a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants and has attacked Trump's call to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport all illegal immigrants.

Although Trump remains the favourite for the nomination, with Ted Cruz running close behind, observers say Kasich has an outside chance of becoming the Republican candidiate if more voters start hearing about him.

Some polls say that if he wins the Republican nomination Kasich might the biggest chance of defeating the likely Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton.