With 99.59 percent of the votes processed, Milanovic garnered 74.67 percent, leaving Primorac far behind with 25.33 percent, the SEC reported.
There are more than 3.7 million legitimate voters in Croatia, and the turnout rate in the runoff is about 44.15 percent, the SEC said.
Delivering a victory speech at his campaign headquarters, Milanovic said the runoff result showcased the Croatian people's trust on him.
"I see this as an approval of my work in the last five years, this victory is a great recognition for me, an act of people's trust on me," Milanovic said, calling for cooperation between him, supported by the largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Croatian government led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Speaking at his campaign headquarters, Primorac conceded defeat, acknowledging the voters' decision.
"Zoran Milanovic and I share completely different spiritual, moral, professional values and thoughts about the future of our homeland. The decision was made by the citizens democratically and should be respected," he said.
In the first round of election on Dec. 29, 2024, Milanovic led the pack of eight candidates with 49.09 percent of the vote. Primorac, backed by the HDZ, secured second place with 19.35 percent.
According to Croatian law, if no candidate wins more than half of the votes in the first round, the two leading candidates advance to a runoff held two weeks later.
Milanovic entered the second round with a strong advantage, reflecting the historic gap of approximately 30 percentage points between the two leading candidates - the largest since Croatia's independence in 1991, local media noted.
Ahead of the Sunday runoff, the latest polls had forecasted Milanovic's victory, with 62.5 percent of respondents expressing support for Milanovic compared to 27.8 percent for Primorac.
Milanovic, born in 1966, was elected president for the first time during the presidential runoff held five years ago. Prior to that, he served as a Croatian diplomat to the European Union and NATO, and he was Croatian prime minister from December 2011 to January 2016..
A Croatian president serves a five-year term and can seek re-election once.
AzVision.az
More about:
