Presidential Election, 29 December 2024

Presidential elections in the Republic of Croatia were held on 29 December 2024. After no candidate won a majority in the first round, a second round was held on 12 January 2025 (International IDEA 2024; Tesija 2024). Since the country’s independence in 1991, only two presidential contests have been decided without a runoff (in 1992 and 1997) (Deloy 2024).

The president is head of state and has a say in foreign policy, defence and security matters, albeit without a power of veto over lawmaking (Al Jazeera 2025). The president is directly elected for a five-year term, for a maximum of two terms. Candidates must gather at least 10,000 voter signatures in support of their nomination. Candidates who obtain at least 10 per cent of the vote are entitled to reimbursement of their election campaign costs (State Election Commission n.d.b).  The apex election management body is the State Electoral Commission, a permanent and independent authority which conducts elections and referendums also at local level, and regulates political campaigning and finance (State Electoral Commission n.d. a).

Ahead of the runoff election a small international NGO, the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), reported an anti-EU and anti-NATO disinformation campaign taking place online. Inauthentic social media activity apparently took place in two waves: after the first round of voting; and then following statements opposing Croatian involvement in the Ukraine War by incumbent President Zoran Milanovic (IntelliNews 2025; CIR 2025). While condemning the invasion by Russia, Milanovic had already established a policy of neutrality on the conflict prior to the electoral period (Deloy 2024; Al Jazeera 2025).

In the first round of voting, Zoran Milanović of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDC) was just short of a majority on 49 per cent while Dragan Primorac of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) received 19.4 per cent. In the second round, Milanović won by a landslide: 74.7 per cent to Primorac’s 25.3 per cent (Politico n.d.; Al Jazeera 2025).

Voter turnout for the first round was  46.03 per cent, and in the second round it was 46.03 per cent (International IDEA n.d.).  In comparison to 2019 first round elections, the turnout decreased by five per cent, which may partly be attributed to the timing of the election during vacations between Christmas and New Year (Deloy 2025).