Croatia elects its first female President

Conservative leader and Croatia’s former Foreign Minister, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, gets elected as the first female President of the country.  A member of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), she defeated Social Democrat (SDP) and current President Ivo Josipovic by receiving 50.54 percent of the votes, winning by a margin of about 21,000 votes.

Grabar-Kitarovic, 46, is the first conservative head of state in Croatia after 15 years of leftist leaders. She will become the fourth President of Croatia, which declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. She was previously serving as the ambassador to Washington and an ex-assistant to the NATO secretary general.

According to the state election commission, 97 percent of the ballots cast had been counted, out of which 49.46 percent went to Josipovic. According to a report by i24 News, Croatia's economy is the newest member of the European Union and amongst the weakest economies of the Union. The report further states that unemployment in the country stands at almost 20 percent, rising to 50 percent for the under-25s.

Even though the position of President in the country is mostly ceremonial, she/he has a say in the foreign policy and is also the head of the army.

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