The 58-year-old president has been a key figure in the country’s political scene for nearly two decades and has increasingly relied on offensive rhetoric during his frequent attacks aimed at EU and local officials.

The angry rants have helped build a larger base with right-wing nationalists drawn to his populist message.

“Milanovic is a sort of a political omnivore,” political analyst Zarko Puhovski told AFP.

During the campaign, Milanovic portrayed himself as a bulwark against complete dominance by Plenkovic and the HDZ, which has been in power since 2016.

“Croatia will not be a country in which one man decides on everything,” he wrote on Facebook recently, referring to Plenkovic.

Croatia has mainly been governed by the HDZ since independence in 1991.

Milanovic, whose powers as president extend to control over the armed forces and a say in foreign policy, regularly pans Plenkovic and his HDZ over the party’s issues with corruption and close ties to Brussels.

“Milanovic has presented himself as the only figure to clearly and efficiently oppose the very successful but arrogant, and for some irritating, prime minister,” commented the Globus weekly.

Puhovski stressed that the president has succeeded in establishing himself as a firm defender of Croatia’s domestic interests, rather than being “Brussels’ clerk” — a label Milanovic has often used to describe Plenkovic.

Hrvoje, a 43-year-old teacher from Zagreb who did not want to give his family name, did not vote in the first round but said he will back Milanovic on Sunday.

“The president does not have much power but it’s important to have a loud counterbalance to HDZ,” he told AFP.

‘Puppet’

Primorac — a former education and science minister — is hoping to spoil Milanovic’s re-election bid and cement his political comeback after a 15-year absence.