Opposition
challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has become the first female president of
Croatia, winning by the narrowest of margins. She
secured 50.5% of the vote with 99% of ballots counted, while incumbent Ivo
Josipovic was close behind on 49.5%. Continue..
Mr
Josipovic has conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent. The
challenger's win is a sign that Croatia may be shifting to the right after the
centre-left coalition's failure to end six years of downturn.
The
election was seen as a key test for the main parties ahead of parliamentary
elections expected to be held towards the end of 2015.
The gap
between the two candidates remained at about one percentage point throughout
much of the second round.
Turnout
was 58.9% - some 12% more than in the first round held two weeks
ago, which was equally close
Ms Grabar-Kitarovic is a
politically conservative member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which
pushed the country towards independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
The
46-year-old is a former foreign minister and assistant to the Nato secretary
general.
"I
will not let anyone tell me that Croatia will not be prosperous and
wealthy," she told jubilant supporters in the capital Zagreb, calling for national unity to
tackle the economic crisis.
Mr
Josipovic, a 57-year-old law expert and classical composer, had been president
since 2010.
The
BBC's Guy De Launey says Mr Josipovic had been so popular for so long that it
seemed impossible he could fail in a bid for re-election.
His
problem was that he was backed by the governing, centre-left coalition that has
failed to pull Croatia out of a six-year-long recession.
Prime
Minister Zoran Milanovic apologised for being a "burden" to the
outgoing president. His government may also pay the price in elections later
this year, our correspondent adds.
Croatia,
which became the newest member of the European Union when it joined in July
2013, has an unemployment rate close to 20%.
The
Croatian president has a say in foreign policy and is head of the army, but
running the country is primarily left to the government.
Mr
Josipovic proposed constitutional changes in a bid to solve the economic crisis
- including increased powers for the president.
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