Croatia looks set for lively presidential run-off

Croatia's pro-Western President Stjepan Mesic angrily defended his record yesterday after narrowly failing to win re-election, forcing a run-off ballot against a candidate of the ruling conservatives.

Liberal reformer Mesic captured 48.92 per cent of votes, just short of the 50 per cent needed for an outright win, while his main rival, Jadranka Kosor of the ruling conservative HDZ, trailed behind on 20.31 per cent. Both ardently support Croatia's efforts to join the European Union in 2009.

Minutes after the official results were announced, an angry Mr Mesic accused Ms Kosor of spending exorbitant sums in her campaign and said he was tired of hearing her slogans "Croatia, Croatia" blasting from radio stations.

"What do they think I fought for? Zanzibar? I was the one who defended Croatia's interests, not in shelters but on the frontline," he said. Mr Mesic was Zagreb's representative in the former Yugoslavia's rotating presidency just before its bloody break-up.

Ms Kosor, one of two deputy prime ministers, invited him to face off in a television show and to prepare a summary of his five-year mandate.

Analysts said Mr Mesic was still likely to win a second five-year term in the January 16 face-off against Ms Kosor, but ordinary Croats found the whole affair increasingly unappealing.

Mr Mesic, who is backed by the main centre-left opposition parties, has clashed over minor issues with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader since the once hardline nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won power in 2003.

But both are eager to bring Zagreb into the European mainstream after a decade of isolation.

"We saw no major difference between the political programmes of Mesic and Kosor in the campaign... a lot could depend on how many abstainees the two will be able to mobilise in the next two weeks," said Andjelko Milardovic from the Zagreb Centre for Political Research.

Turnout in the first round was a low 51 per cent.

Mr Mesic emerged as the surprise winner of a landmark ballot in 2000, and presents a sharp contrast to his autocratic predecessor, Franjo Tudjman, who led Croatia to independence but was later ostracised by the West over his nationalism.