Croatia’s ruling conservatives and opposition centre-left Social were virtually tied in parliamentary elections today, leaving the make up of the future government unclear, exit polls and preliminary results showed.

Exit polls tonight showed the opposition centre-left Social Democrats slightly ahead of the ruling conservatives in Croatian parliamentary elections, but neither party appeared to have won outright.

Croatians were voting in closely contested parliamentary elections today, choosing between the ruling conservatives set to steer the ex-Yugoslav country into the European Union and leftist opposition.

In a serious blow to Croatia’s new, pro-Western Government, the nationalist party of the late President Franjo Tudjman did much better than expected in yesterday’s local elections, leading in several counties and finishing second in Zagreb, the capital.