Croatia holds parliamentary polls amid PM-president rivalry

Croatian voters are going to the polls on Wednesday in parliamentary elections, with conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic seeking a new term.

Plenkovic, 54, is facing up against President Zoran Milanovic, a Kremlin-friendly left-wing populist.

The two men engaged in bitter campaigning ahead of the election, with Milanovic accusing Plenkovic of heading a corrupt government, while Plenkovic slammed Milanovic over his leanings toward Moscow.

The latest polls put Plenkovic's conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) ahead of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), for which Milanovic is the candidate.

Intense rivalry

Elections were originally scheduled for the fall, but Croatia's parliament was dissolved in March as Plenkovic and his party faced opposition accusations of corruption. 

Observers believe that Plenkovic, who had only a narrow majority in parliament, wanted the snap election to prevent a further drop in popularity.

During the campaign, Plenkovic accused his rival of violating the constitution and voicing hate speech, while highlighting his own role in taking Croatia into the eurozone and Europe's passport-free Schengen area last year.

Plenkovic has also slammed Milanovic over his criticism of EU support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion and his opposition to training Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia.

"Milanovic is pushing Croatia and the Croatian people into the Russian world," Plenkovic, who has been in power since 2016, told one rally.

Corruption accusations

In his turn, Milanovic, 57, has accused Plenkovic of rampant corruption, calling him "the godfather of crime."

Among other things, he criticized the recent appointment of the country's new chief prosecutor, a judge with alleged ties to corruption suspects.

Milanovic already served as prime minister from 2011 to 2016.

Wednesday's election comes as Croatia is beset by corruption, a labor shortage, the highest inflation rate in the eurozone and illegal migration.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) for the nation's 3.7 million eligible voters and are set to close at 7 p.m. Initial results are expected in the evening.

tj/wd (AFP, dpa)