A former Croatian Prime Minister under investigation in a corruption case left the country today hours before parliament was to vote on lifting his immunity from prosecution.

Croatian prime minister Jadranka Kosor has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, with the opposition blaming her for the nation’s economic decline and corruption in the upper echelons of her party.

Croatia’s incumbent president Stipe Mesic promised today to align the former Yugoslav country more closely with the West after overwhelmingly winning a second term in a run-off election.

Croatian President Stipe Mesic insisted he would win a presidential runoff and lead Croatia to the European Union after failing by a narrow margin to win an outright first-round victory in yesterday’s election.