Croatian Democratic Union

"Dissatisfied Croats" elect first woman president

The victory of Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in the Croatian presidential election was a reflection of the dissatisfaction of Croatian citizens, the media say.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has won in the second round of elections that were held in Croatia on Sunday, becoming the country's first female president.

Grabar-Kitarovic, who is from the oppositional Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), won against incumbent Ivo Josipovic with the narrowest of margins, the BBC reports.

Croatians cast ballots Sunday to elect a president in a tight run-off between incumbent centre-left Ivo Josipovic and conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, both pledging to help kickstart the newest EU member's ailing economy.
      

After a close race in the first round of Croatian presidential elections, voters today will decide whether their head of state for the next five years will be the centre-left incumbent, Ivo Josipovic, or the candidate of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic. First results are expected some time this evening.

Croatian presidential candidate on conditions for Serbia

ZAGREB -- A Croatian presidential candidate has said that she would condition Serbia's EU membership path "with the return of the missing persons from the (1990s) war."

With the second round of the presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, the race between incumbent, Ivo Josipovic, and the centre-right challenger, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, has entered its last days.

Both candidates made the final pitch for swing voters as polls predict the gap closing between them.

Competition between the incumbent president Ivo Josipovic and his challenger Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic heated up on Sunday in the televised debate as the two candidates vied for support ahead of the second-round run-off vote.

Josipovic, the centre-left candidate supported by the government, and Grabar Kitarovic, supported by the opposition centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, face a battle for the votes that went to the other candidates in the first round.

...

Josipovic and Grabar Kitarovic, the candidate from the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, finished almost neck-and-neck in the contest after the vast majority of the votes were counted on Monday morning, and will now face a second-round run-off for the presidency on January 11.

...

Josipovic wins first-round vote with slight margin

ZAGREB -- Croatian President Ivo Josipovic scored a slight advantage against HDZ party candidate Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic in the first round of the presidential election.