Croats voted in a close national election yesterday, expecting their new leaders to root out corruption, overhaul the economy and take the country into the EU.

The main rivals, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's conservative Croatian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats, both pledge exactly that but neither party is likely to be able to form a government on its own.

According to exit polls after voting ended Croatia's opposition Social Democrats took a narrow lead yesterday evening. The Social Democratic Party had 34.5 per cent of the votes and the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union 32.8 per cent. The difference between the two parties, however, was too small to ensure a comfortable majority.

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