Croatian President faces 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.

“Together, we will build a modern, democratic, European Croatia,” said Mesic, who will face conservative ruling-party minister Jadranka Kosor in the January 16 run-off.

Both Mesic and Kosor are pro-Western and pledge to work on further reforms necessary for this former Yugoslav country of 4.5 million to join the EU and Nato.

Mesic had 48.92% of the vote – just over 1% short of an outright majority that would have given him a first-round victory.

Kosor, the Minister of Families and War Veterans in the Croatian Democratic Union-led Cabinet and a close ally of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, was trailing far behind with 20.3%.

Mesic, 70, who was backed by most opposition parties, said that he “led Croatia to the doors of the (mainstream) Europe, and I will lead it to it.”

Kosor, 51, said she was “sure Croatia is mature enough to finally have a female president.”

There were 13 candidates in the election.