ZAGREB, May 27, 2019 - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) have won four seats each out of a total of 12 seats allotted for Croatia in the new European Parliament, according to the reports from the State Election Commission (DIP) after it counted ballots from 99.72% of polling stations when the voting for the EP ended in Croatia on Sunday evening

Thus, the HDZ candidates with the five-year MEP term will be Karlo Ressler, Dubravka Šuica, Tomislav Sokol and Željana Zovko, and the SDP will be represented by Biljana Borzan, Tonino Picula, Predrag Matić and Romana Jerković.

The Sovereignists, the independent slate led by former judge Mislav Kolakušić, Živi Zid and the seven-party Amsterdam Coalition have each won one seat. Other slates have not passed the election threshold of 5% of the vote.

The latest results show that the HDZ has won 22.71% of the vote, the SDP follows with 18.71%, whereas the Sovereignists' slate led by MEP Ruža Tomašić has mustered 8.51% of the vote.

The slate of Mislav Kolakušić, who is perceived by media as the biggest surprise of these elections, has won 7.89% and is followed by Živi Zid (5.66%) and the Amsterdam Coalition's slate (5.20%) which will be represented by Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) leader Valter Flego.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović congratulated all those who have won seats in the European Parliament at Sunday's EU election. "Congratulations to all those who will enter the European Parliament with wishes that on behalf of everyone they fight firmly for Croatian state and national interests and for a Europe of equals, not of those who are large or small but for those who are equal," President Grabar-Kitarović said.

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad were eligible to vote in the EP elections to elect 12 Croatian deputies for a five year term.

A total of 396 candidates on 33 slates vied for the 12 seats in the European Parliament allocated to Croatia. Thirty-one slates are party and coalition slates while two are independent slates.

Of the 12 deputies to be elected, 11 will go to Brussels immediately after the elections while the 12th will go after Great Britain leaves the EU.

The elections were monitored by over 4,700 monitors from ten political parties and two nongovernmental organisations.

Only a smaller number of irregularities were reported during the voting process but they did not affect the process, DIP deputy chair Vesna Fabijančić-Križanić said.

The nongovernmental election monitoring organisation GONG stated on Sunday that the voting was proceeding in an orderly manner at polling stations throughout Croatia and that there was a small number of complaints from voters, and the majority of them referred to the breach of the ban of electioneering.

HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Sunday night, after the State Electoral Commission (DIP) results showed that the party won four seats in the European Parliament, that he was not entirely satisfied because he had expected five seats, for which the party was short of about 1,000 votes, and that this was due to a big dispersion of votes and a big number of slates.

It's a relative victory, we will have four members in the European Parliament as of July 1 and I congratulate them, he said in the party's campaign headquarters.

Plenković said he was pleased with the higher turnout (about 30%) than in previous EP elections (20% in 2013 and 25% in 2014). He said it meant that Croatian voters identified with European topics and saw the EP elections as important for Croatian society.

He said it was important that the HDZ ran in the elections independently. We stand by that decision and I believe it was the right one, he added.

I believe our MEPs will continue to work on the achievement of our European ambitions. This is a very pro-European government, we lead a pro-European HDZ and I'm confident that we will slowly get to the point when voters will see which political forces are dealing seriously with the difficult problems of Croatia's transition, which is what the HDZ-led government is doing, Plenković said.

We will work with dedication, advocating European values in Croatian society as we have done so far, and which is what Croatian deputies will do also in the European Parliament, he added.

More elections news can be found in the Politics section.

At 7 pm, polling stations across Croatia closed. At 11.30 pm, the State Electoral Commission announced the results after 93% of precincts have been counted.

HDZ (centre-right, EPP) 23.04% - 4 seats

SDP (centre-left, PES) 18.46% -4 seats

Croatian Soverenists (right-wing) 8.35% - 1 seat

Mislav Kolakušić (independent) 7.73% - 1 seat

Živi Zid (populists) 5.77% - 1 seat

Amsterdam Coalition (left-liberal) 5.48% - 1 seat

Turnout: 29.57%

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad were eligible to vote in elections in which Croatian deputies have been elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

A total of 396 candidates on 33 slates were vying for the 12 seats in the European Parliament allocated to Croatia. Thirty-one slates are party and coalition slates while two are independent slates. Of the 12 deputies to be elected, 11 will go to Brussels immediately after the elections while the 12th will go after Great Britain leaves the EU.

The nongovernmental election monitoring organisation GONG stated on Sunday, that it voting was proceeding in order at polling stations throughout Croatia for the election of 11 Croatian deputies to the European Parliament, that there was a small number of complaints from voters, and the majority of them referred to the breach of the ban of electioneering.

During the voting on Sunday morning, this NGO received reports from several voters about the violation of the ban on campaigning by political parties and candidates during the voting process.

More news about elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - The number of voters that went to the polls in Sunday's European elections is modest but better than five years ago.

The State Election Commission (DIP) said that 9.93 percent of Croatian voters had voted by 1130 hours, which is 2.3 percent more than in 2015.

The turnout was the highest in Karlovac County where 11.36 percent of voters cast their ballots, and the lowest in Zadar County, 8.82 percent, which is still better than five years ago.

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatian voters in the country and abroad are eligible to vote in elections in which Croatian deputies will be elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

A total of 396 candidates on 33 slates are vying for the 12 seats in the European Parliament allocated to Croatia. Thirty-one slates are party and coalition slates while two are independent slates.

Of the 12 deputies to be elected, 11 will go to Brussels immediately after the elections while the 12th will go after Great Britain leaves the EU.

The nongovernmental election monitoring organisation GONG stated on Sunday, that it voting was proceeding in order at polling stations throughout Croatia for the election of 11 Croatian deputies to the European Parliament, that there was a small number of complaints from voters, and the majority of them referred to the breach of the ban of electioneering.

During the voting on Sunday morning, this NGO received reports from several voters about the violation of the ban on campaigning by political parties and candidates during the voting process.

President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović voted in elections for the European Parliament on Sunday, when 12 Croatian deputies will be elected to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

Addressing reporters, the president expressed hope the turnout would be higher than at the last European elections five years ago, calling on citizens, notably young ones to cast their ballots because "this is the best way to help their political options enter the European Parliament."

"Young people, please, these elections are for you. Go to the polls, cast your ballots because it is important which option you represent and it is important who will represent you in the European Parliament," Grabar Kitarović said.

The president believes it is too early to introduce compulsory voting in Croatia, namely an effect of laws which require eligible citizens to register and vote in elections, and may impose penalties on those who fail to do so.

"Maybe in a few years," the president said, underlining that elections are the foundation of democracy.

More news about elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 26, 2019 - The polls opened at 7 am on Sunday throughout Croatia for voters to cast their ballots for the election of 12 deputies to the European Parliament (EP) who will represent Croatia in that body for the next five years.

The State Election Commission called on voters to exercise their right and cast their ballots.

There are 3,832,000 eligible voters with residency status in Croatia and another 154,000 who have the right of vote but do not reside in Croatia (the diaspora).

Croatia is voting for MEPs through open slates which means that voters cast their ballot for a party slate and in addition they can vote for a particular candidate on that slate to whom they wish to give priority in relation to other candidates on the slate.

Croatians can choose between 33 slates, as against 25 slates registered for the EP elections in Croatia five years ago. Thus, a total of 396 candidates are running now for the 12 seats reserved for Croatia in the new European legislature.

Eligible voters can cast their ballots at 6,360 regular and another 70 special polling stations in Croatia which will close at 7 pm. Croatians can also vote in 46 other countries at 119 polling stations. The first polling stations for Croats outside Croatia opened in Australia at 11 pm Saturday according to Croatian time.

Elections for the European Parliament are held in all member states of the European Union between 23 and 26 May 2019, as decided by the Council of the European Union.

Polls opened on May 23 first in the Netherlands, then half an hour later the election began across the U.K., as both nations kicked off the four-day election process, marking the ninth occasion since the first direct elections in 1979. The current number of MEPs is 751, although those seats are set to drop to 705 when the U.K. leaves the bloc.

Latvia, Malta, and Slovakia voted on May 25, while the Czech Republic had two days to go to ballots on May 24 and 25. The remaining countries, including Croatia, are voting on Sunday. Final results from all 28 EU nations will be published after voting ends late Sunday.

Every five years EU citizens choose who represents them in the European Parliament. The EP is elected by direct universal suffrage and elections must be based on proportional representation and use either the list system or the single transferable vote system. In some countries including Croatia, the order on the list may be changed using the transferable (preferential) vote system.

The results of the voting in Croatia will be announced after 11pm on Sunday.

More European election news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2019 - Electoral silence started in Croatia at midnight on Friday and it will last until 7 pm Sunday, when polling stations in European elections will be closed.

Breaches of the electioneering ban carry fines ranging from 3,000 kuna for a physical person to 10,000-30,000 kuna for a candidate running in the election or a responsible person in a political party, and 100,000-500,000 kuna for a legal entity, including political parties.

The ban refers to any form of electoral promotion, publication of unofficial election results or their estimates, and the media release of candidates' photographs, statements or interviews with them.

Penalties will not be imposed by the State Election Commission (DIP) but by a misdemeanour court, DIP deputy chair Vesna Fabijančić-Krizanić said.

She confirmed that DIP would react to breaches of electoral silence on social networks but she could not rule out the possibility that some breaches might go unnoticed.

Billboards that voters can see out in the open will not be considered to be in violation of electoral silence, but a candidate's photograph on a media outlet's website will, she said.

Slightly more than 3.8 million Croatians, including those who live in 46 other countries, have the right to vote in Sunday's election at which 12 deputies will be elected from 396 candidates to represent Croatia in the European Parliament in the next five years.

More news about European elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 24, 2019 - The March for Life tramples over women's rights with support from state and church, and its taking place on electioneering ban day favourises all extreme right wing parties, the European election candidates of the coalition comprising the We Can! platform and the New Left and ORaH parties said on Friday, calling on voters to march to polling stations on Sunday to defeat fundamentalism.

Speaking at a press conference in front of a banner saying "March to the polling stations, defeat fundamentalism!", they called on voters to be on "the right side of history" in the European Parliament elections on Sunday.

New Left candidate Rada Borić said "tomorrow again there will be a march against the lives of our sisters, daughters and mothers," and that it was clear that the March for Life tramples over women.

"The so-called March for Life is supported not only by the church but the state too. We are here because we know that tomorrow a concert will be given here by a person who doesn't keep his fascist iconography and fascist views secret, and we know that his performances are banned in Europe," Borić said about a concert which the singer Marko Perković Thompson will hold in St. Mark's Square on Saturday as part of the March for Life.

Responding to a question from the press, Borić said the support of the state and the church to the march was obvious. "The president will receive the marchers today," she said, adding that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović did not receive those who had been for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, although the ratification had been in the government's programme.

More news about the abortion issue can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2019 - Croatia's State Electoral Commission (DIP) on Thursday dismissed claims by a political analyst about "a surplus of registered voters " and subsequent recycling of incorrect facts as misinformation, and called on media outlets and analysts "to responsibly conduct analyses" so that they would not contaminate election processes by their blanket assessments.

DIP issued a press release today responding to "recycling of incorrect facts and data as well as fake news in media in connection with the elections held to date in Croatia and in connection with preparations for the implementation of the election for the European Parliament".

The reaction from DIP was prompted partly by a statement by political analyst Darko Petričić who recently told the N1 commercial broadcaster that the number of 3.7 million eligible voters in Croatia did not correspond to a real state of affairs. Petričić also accused the ruling authorities in Croatia, as well as DIP and the Public Administration Ministry of having "additional voters in reserve to add them to parties that will win the elections."

DIP says in its statement that it has never had any additional number of voters in reserve, and underscores that "the voting system has been organised in such a way that nobody can add additional ballots anywhere whatever he thinks, considering several levels of checks."

DIP explains that it publishes election results on its website and they are all the time checkable and comparable with all the records and minutes led by polling committees.

As for the APIS IT, the commission recalls that the company is hired to provide IT support at elections, and all the procedures, instructions and guidelines in connection with the implementation of elections are within the remit of DIP.

APIS IT's activities are also easy to check at anytime, DIP says.

It also underlined that local and international observers and experts have assessed all election processes in Croatia so far to be transparent and in compliance with the law.

Considering the forthcoming election, 4,720 observers, who represent 10 political parties and two nongovernmental organisations, have been registered to date to monitor the 26 May election.

More news about European elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2019 - The leadership of Croats in Serbia on Thursday called on local Croats who have dual citizenship to go to the polls and vote for Croatian candidates in the 26 May elections for the European Parliament election.

Polling stations for the election will be set up in Croatia's diplomatic missions in Belgrade and in Subotica.

The leader of the Democratic Alliance of the Vojvodina Croats (DSHV) Tomislav Žigmanov said in a public statement calling on eligible voters to go to the polls, that DSHV is a Democratic Christian party and that it supports the options that advocate such views.

"The Croats in Serbia can exert influence on the composition of the new European Parliament by voting in the election! Let us go to the polls on 26 May, Sunday," Žigmanov's statement reads.

The DSHV encourages all members of the Croat community to exercise their right and go to the polls to elect members of the EP who will advocate the same political values and work on the implementation of EU projects.

Žigmanov recalled that during the last EP election, the turnout by the Croat community in Serbia was modest.

In that context he explained that eligible voters can vote only in person at polling stations at two places in Belgrade and Subotica.

This considerably affects the situation of voters who live in parts of Serbia and Vojvodina that are far away from the above mentioned two cities.

Therefore, Žigmanov suggests that postal voting should be introduced for eligible Croat voters in Serbia and Vojvodina, just as Hungary enabled their voters which was why the turnout was that high in the Hungarian ethnic community.

The leader of the Croatian National Council in Serbia, Jasna Vojnić, said that the EP election has an impact on the Croat people in Serbia.

By casting your ballots in the EP election, you can, in a way, impact the improvement of the status of members of our community, she said.

An estimated 35,000 ethnic Croats in Vojvodina and Serbia are eligible to vote in the EP election.

More news about European elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2019 - The leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and its top candidate for the European Parliament, Milorad Pupovac, said at the main campaign rally in Glina on Wednesday that Croatia must not settle only for EU membership but success which, as a member state, it would generate for its citizens and for Europe, underlining that the Serb people in Croatia needed success.

He said the people of the Banija region needed success too so they could say that "after years of failure and suffering, with their votes, they can achieve success for Serbs in Croatia and for Croatia."

"We want a civilised Croatia, a Croatia in which the voice of intolerance won't dominate, a Croatia in which no voices which spread the message of fear or hatred will dominate. Croatia will then resemble the country it was before joining the European Union, a country of Croatian and European ideals," said Pupovac.

Serbs in Croatia see the EU as a success project which depends on how much each member state puts into that project, he added.

Non-party candidate from slate 24 Dejan Jović said the candidates on the slate advocated a united and increasingly strong Europe.

"Our wish is for Europe to spread to all those countries which wish to become EU member states. We don't want any solid walls between the countries in the EU and those outside, and we believe that's in the interest of Croatia, the Western Balkans and the EU," he said.

More news about SDSS can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 22, 2019 - Croatian candidates running in elections for the European Parliament on Wednesday attended a panel discussion on euro introduction, and most of them supported it while the Independents for Croatia and the Croatian Sovereigntists were against.

Attending the event, organised by the Euractive youth network, were Tome Antičić (HNS), Dalija Orešković (START), Jozo Radoš (Amsterdam Coalition), Predrag Matić (SDP), Tomislav Sokol (HDZ), Robert Podolnjak (MOST), Irena Cajner Mraović (BM365), Ladislav Ilčić (Croatian Sovereigntists) and Tomislav Jonjić (Independents for Croatia).

Most candidates said they were in favour of euro introduction on the condition the necessary criteria were met and Croatia was ready.

Sokol (HDZ) said that analyses conducted so far showed that euro introduction would have a positive impact on the Croatian economy, a view with which Radoš agreed.

MOST's Podolnjak said that euro adoption was also a matter for citizens to decide. "We are not against euro introduction but believe that the timing should be right and that citizens should be given the opportunity to state their position in a referendum," Podolnjak said.

Orešković said her START party supported the introduction of the euro "but this is a matter of timing and open public discussion. Not everyone will win and some will lose so we should have clear information."

"Nobody is forcing us to enter the euro area, once our economy is ready, we will introduce the euro," said Social Democrat Matić.

Even though he recognises the benefits of euro introduction, Jonjić said that his Independents for Croatia party was against entirely abandoning the kuna.

"We are aware that it is more practical to travel without having to exchange money but we are nonetheless against strengthening all mechanisms that strengthen the EU," said Jonjić, whose position was supported by Sovereigntist Ilčić, who noted: "Greater powers should be given to national parliaments, not Brussels."

Asked why Croatia does not have any representative on the EP's committees on science or culture and education, MEP Jozo Radoš said that "Croatia has 11 MEPs and the EP has 22 committees so it is difficult to cover all the committees we would like to sit on."

Sokol added that one could fight, for example, for Erasmus+, also by sitting on other committees such as the Committee on the Budget.

Podolnjak said that he believed that Croatian students were disadvantaged in comparison with other students in the EU while Cajner Mraović (BM365) said that one should work on making Croatia more attractive to foreign students.

More news about the possible introduction of euro in Croatia can be found in the Business section.