CROATIA: Croatia's president, Mr Stipe Mesic, roused his supporters yesterday for an election run-off on January 16th after he narrowly failed to win an outright majority in Sunday's poll.
Mr Mesic (70), a pro-Western liberal, won just less than 49 per cent of the vote, way ahead of his closest rival, the Deputy Prime Minster Ms Jadranka Kosor (51), on 20 per cent.
He responded angrily to a demand from Ms Kosor, who portrays herself as an ardent patriot and champion of the oppressed, to meet her in a televised debate and list what he had achieved since coming to power in 2000.
"Who do they think I fought for? Zanzibar? I was the one who defended Croatia's interests, not in shelters but on the front line," Mr Mesic railed.
"Croatia must be a modern, European and democratic country with satisfied citizens," he added. "That will be possible only if we change many things. We will decide where Croatia is heading, to the 21st century or back in time. I offer the 21st century."
Mr Mesic was Zagreb's representative for the former Yugoslavia's rotating presidency before it descended into war in the early 1990s. He succeeded autocratic nationalist Franjo Tudjman as president of independent Croatia five years ago.
Mr Mesic and Ms Kosorboth support Croatia's bid to join the EU. Accession talks are set to begin in March and Zagreb hopes to join with Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. Most analysts, however, see 2009 as more realistic.
"We saw no major difference between the political programmes of Mesic and Kosor in the campaign," said Mr Andjelko Milardovic of the Zagreb Centre for Political Research. "A lot could depend on how many non-voters the two will be able to mobilise in the next two weeks."
Turnout of just 51 per cent was well below that of previous Croatian elections, reflecting a lack of distinct policy differences between the main candidates and growing disillusionment with the prospect of joining the EU.
Opinion polls show that support for joining the EU has slipped to less than 50 per cent, amid resentment about demands from the United Nations war crimes court in The Hague for Zagreb to hand over all Croatian suspects from the 1991-95 war.
The EU has warned Croatia that its membership bid could be jeopardised by its failure to catch Gen Ante Gotovina, who has been on the run since 2001.
While both Mr Mesic and Ms Kosor grudgingly accept that he should face trial, they also insist that he is not hiding in Croatia.