Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

The European Court for Human Rights, ECHR, on Thursday ruled that Croatia does not have to give a writer access to the classified transcripts of the late President Franjo Tudjman's conversations.

Vladimir Seks, a former politician, wanted access to the documents for a book he is writing on the foundation of modern Croatia.

Centre-left former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic was sworn in as president of Croatia on Tuesday, six weeks after he defeated incumbent conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in a run-off election.

A Croatian political expert said Sunday's presidential election victory by the centre-left candidate, Zoran Milanovic, was to some extent a protest vote against his rival's "hard-core nationalist campaign".

Zoran Milanovic won the second round of the presidential election in Croatia on Sunday, according to preliminary results, after nearly 100 per cent of votes were counted.

The Social Democratic candidate and former prime minister took 52.70 per cent of the votes, comfortably beating his centre-right rival, incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who won 47.30 per cent.

Croatian political experts said the results of Sunday's first round of presidential elections in were predictable and in line with surveys conducted before the election.

"What happened was what we expected and what I predicted," political analyst Zarko Puhovski told BIRN on Monday.

Miroslav Skoro won the most votes in Osijek.
Croatian media and analysts have estimated that whoever "wins" Zagreb will also be Croatia's new president, with Milanovic winning 33.33 percent of votes in Zagreb, followed by Miroslav Skoro with 23.37, and the third was Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic with 20.14 percent of the vote.

Preliminary results of Croatia's presidential election on Sunday, after nearly 100 per cent of votes were counted, put Social Democratic candidate and former prime minister Zoran Milanovic in the lead with 29.55 per cent of votes cast.

Turkey is contributing to the stability in the Balkans both politically and culturally, said an international envoy.

"Turkey is a factor of stability in the Balkans both in the political and cultural area," High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Valentin Inzko said told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

Social Media Jihadis

Security experts across Europe are mulling the potential risks and consequences of the return of jihadi fighters from the (now defeated) 'Islamic State'. In some corners of the Balkans, and indeed the wider continent, there are fears that their return might lead to greater radicalisation and (in)security problems at home.

The Youth Initiative for Human Rights, YIHR, a regional organisation of young activists and experts on transitional justice, presented a piece of analysis on Monday that shows how convicted war criminals continue to play prominent roles in the public arena in the Balkans.