These days the victory of a centre-left politician anywhere in Eastern Europe is somewhat anomalous. The scene is dominated by either traditional conservative nationalists or fire-breathing rightwing populists. But on 22 December, when Croatian voters decided to buck the trend by electing the former prime minister and social democratic leader Zoran Milanović to become president, it proved a welcome change of pace.
The choice between a nationalist or a moderate in power in either of the former Yugoslavian states, Serbia and Croatia, is crucial to whether a delicate peace will continue to prevail – in the years since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in 1991 the Balkans remain fraught with tension. The unified state of Yugoslavia muted the militant Croat and Serbian nationalism, which, after the collapse of what non-Serbs tended to call ‘the prison of nations’, burst into major violence and genocide in Kosovo and Bosnia. In its wake, more moderate voices prevailed but populist ethno-nationalism continues to lurk in the background.Milanović, 53, defeated the incumbent conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is much given to nationalist mutterings about blood and patriotism. The first woman to be elected Croatian president, Grabar-Kitarović is a former ambassador to Washington and a practising Catholic horrified by gay marriage among other sins. She presented herself as a ‘woman of the people’ from humble farming roots and is well known for stunts such as singing in public, which her critics deride as embarrassing. Like many Croatian nationalists she is known for downplaying the role of pro-Nazi collaboration during World War Two.
