Next Croatian presidential election

Grabar-Kitarovic had the full backing of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which has led the governing coalition since 2016 and boasts a powerful party machine across the country.

Even so, Milanovic beat her soundly in the second round in early January, scooping 52.66 per cent of votes compared with 47.34 per cent for Grabar-Kitarovic.

The ceremony will be opened tonight with a concert at the Croatian National Theater, and Milanovic will not be attending, it was confirmed from his office, Zagreb-based N1 television reports.

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 citizens on Sunday vote in the second round of the presidential election, which pits the incumbent conservative, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, against the Social Democratic former prime minister Zoran Milanovic.

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.

Croatia's next president will be elected in a second round of voting on Jan. 5, according to the unofficial results of the State Election Commission (DIP) on Dec. 23.

No candidate passed the 50 percent threshold after nearly all of the votes were counted in the election, in which 11 candidates competed.

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.

Croatian citizens on Sunday vote in a presidential election whose outcome is hard to predict, given the strong polling of the top three candidates.

Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac said on Thursday that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic "will certainly visit Croatia."