The center-right won the Croatian parliamentary elections again

Ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won in the parliamentary elections held the day before, on April 17.

Based on the results of counting almost all the ballots, the HDZ, led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, receives 61 seats in parliament. His closest historical rival is the social democratic alliance “Rivers of Justice”, supported by Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, with 42 seats.

Thus, to form a majority of the CDU, the support of several more right-wing deputies will be required. The far-right Statehood Movement takes 14 seats, while the center-right Most takes 11.

“I want to congratulate the other parties that were defeated by the CDU,” stated in his victory speech, Plenkovic promised to start forming a coalition on the first morning after the elections.

If the HDZ remains in power as expected, Croatia will continue to pursue a pro-Western course, supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. A victory for Rek could distance Croatia from the European Union and bring it closer to Russia.

President Milanovic, who dissolved parliament in March 2024 and said that if Rek won, he would become prime minister, has repeatedly expressed a pro-Russian position. Among other things, he opposed the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia and the sending of weapons to Ukraine, and also criticized the EU policy towards Ukraine.