ZAGREB (AP) – Croatia’s upcoming parliamentary election, set for tomorrow, follows a campaign that was marked by heated exchanges between the country’s two top officials, sparking a political crisis in the Balkan country that belongs to both the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The ballot will pit the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic against an alliance of centrist and left-wing parties informally led by populist President Zoran Milanovic and his Social Democratic Party (SDP). A lot is at stake in the race for Croatia’s 151-seat Parliament, not just in the country itself but for Europe.
If the HDZ stays in power, the country would maintain relative political stability. A success for SDP could put it on track for victory in the European Parliament elections in June and the presidential election in December. It would shake the HDZ’s dominance of politics.
The HDZ has largely held power since Croatia gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. The Adriatic Sea nation became the newest member of the European Union in 2013, and joined Europe’s passport-free travel area and the eurozone last year.
