(12 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zagreb, Croatia – 12 January 2025
1. Various of Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanović and his wife Sanja Musić Milanović walking to polling station
2. Wide of Milanović and Sanya registering
3. Milanović and Sanya casting ballot and leaving
4. Milanović leaving building
5. Milanović holding press conference
6. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zoran Milanović, Croatian president:
“I believe I have been doing this job for the past five years, and the last 15, almost 20, in good faith. I know I did it in good faith. And I believe, and I hope, that people have seen that. And that they trust me.”
7. Wide of press conference
8. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zoran Milanović, Croatian president:
“Defense of democracy does not consist of spitting on anyone who thinks differently from you, calling him a ‘Russian player’ and working for Putin. That method, that style of talking is totalitarian. Then they cancel you, erase you, and you’re gone. It’s very easy to label someone.”
9. Mid of Milanović speaking to reporter
10. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zoran Milanović, Croatian president:
“So, Europe, the so-called, allegedly, democratic Europe, that Europe of Brussels, is actually in many ways non-democratic, and non-representative. Europe is run – and indeed it is run – by people who were never democratically elected. The President of the European Commission never ran in any elections, in the European context.”
11. Wide of Milanović at press conference
12. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Zoran Milanović, Croatia’s president:
“We can’t all be the same, I cannot dictate how Hungarians in Budapest should behave, or what the standards of democracy are there, or who they should elect, and so on. That can’t be tolerated any more. I know all those people very well. In Slovakia too, I’ve known them for 20 years. They didn’t experience a radical Copernican turnaround over the past few years – rather, the circumstances are different. And the circumstances amount to mental violence. ‘If you don’t think the same as I do, then you’re the enemy.’ That’s the way the Comintern (Communist International) worked. And in the time of inquisition. That’s not the modern Europe I want to live and work in. I will work on changing it, as much as I can as the president of a small nation.”
13. Wide of Milanović leaving press conference
STORYLINE:
Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanović cast his ballot in the election run-off on Sunday, in which he is the overwhelming favorite to win re-election against a ruling conservative party candidate.
The left-leaning Milanović comfortably won the first round of voting on Dec. 29, leaving his main challenger, Dragan Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for presidency previously, and six other candidates far behind.
The runoff between the top two contenders was necessary because Milanović fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.
The election comes as the European Union and NATO member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, corruption scandals and a labor shortage.
Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme military commander.
Milanović, 58, is an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
He is the most popular politician in Croatia and is sometimes compared to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.
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