Croatian parliamentary election

In a widely expected outcome, Croatia's ruling conservative party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections. However, as forecasted by pre-election polls, the HDZ falls short of securing enough seats in the Assembly to form a government independently, setting the stage for challenging negotiations with populist factions.

There will be no left-wing pre-election coalition in Croatia to counter the main ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ.

This was made clear after the opposition Mozemo! [We Can!] party announced it will go alone into the next elections, rejecting a pre-election alliance with the opposition Social Democrats, SDP.

An election defeat could also upset the ruling coalition government

The arbitration agreement was signed by the then prime ministers Borut Pahor and Jadranka Kosor in Stockholm on 4 November 2009 following almost two decades of failed border talks.

Neither of Croatia's two main parties looks like winning an outright majority in an election in July, leading to a likely alliance between the centre-right HDZ and a nationalist bloc led by a famous folk singer.

The Croatian parliament was dissolved on Monday on the proposal last week of six parliamentary clubs of the ruling majority, led by the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union HDZ, whose ratings have risen in the coronavirus epidemic.

The resounding nature of Plenkovic's victory, however, glosses over internal divisions that plagued the conservative HDZ leading up to this race.

For her book, entitled 'Amoral Communities: Collective Crimes in Time of War', she interviewed 131 members of these communities from parts of Croatia that were directly or indirectly influenced by the conflict.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the top candidate of the centrist European People's Party, EPP, for the post of European Commission President, Manfred Weber, will participate in the central election conference of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, on Saturday in Zagreb.

Croatia needs a grand coalition of its two biggest parties - the Social Democratic Party and conservative HDZ - in order to put to rest an "irrational and meaningless" conflict over the country's 20th-century history and focus on more pressing issues, former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader says in his new book.