Who is the new president of Croatia and how the Serbs remember him for

Who is the new president of Croatia and how the Serbs remember him for

He defeated incumbent President Colinda Grabar Kitarovic in the second round of the presidential election by more than 105,000 votes.

After 99.85 percent of polling stations processed, the former prime minister won 52.70 percent or 1,031,204 votes, while Grabar Kitarovic won 47.30 percent and 925,764 votes, respectively.

"Victory - as I promised," Milanovic told the crowd at his headquarters.

Milanovic won in nine counties and in four largest cities in Croatia, and Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic in 12 counties, as well as in the diaspora.

Zoran Milanovic, 54, the new president of Croatia and former prime minister, returned to politics after a nearly four-year hiatus during which he worked for a consulting firm he founded after the then National Coalition, which he headed, was defeated in the 2016 election.

Milanovic's rise to the political ladder began in April 2007, after the death of Social Democratic Party leader Ivica Racan, when he was elected his successor in the party elections.

He also served as SDP's MP while the party was in opposition.

After the victory of the so-called Kukuriku ('cock-a-doodle-doo') Coalition in 2011, Milanovic became Prime Minister, his term marked the entry of Croatia into the European Union, but also the continuation of the economic crisis, as well as the impoverishment of the widest sections of the population.

After the elections held in the fall of 2015, his coalition was left without an absolute majority, and after unsuccessful attempts to form a government with the then newly formed Most Independent List Party, he resigned as party president and resigned from parliament.

He then founded the consulting firm EuroAlba Advisory, and at the outset of his firm, he discovered that he had advised Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, but he didn't disclose the names of other clients. During those four years of break, Milanovic was almost completely excluded from the public.

His political profile is perhaps best described in the book: "Milanovic: A Promising Young Man" by a journalist Marina Karlovic-Sabolic, where, among other things, she states that he has always had all the predispositions for being a great politician, but that his character has limited him in this, and pushed him back.

The author described him at the time as educated and eloquent, to whom no one on the political scene could parry but, as she stated, he has the nature of a "scorpion". During his three-year term as Prime Minister, Milanovic went from "thorns to stars", receiving a standing ovation and disappointments.

And while he was in opposition, he claimed that then Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor embarrassed Croatia, and called current Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic a criminal. As far as relations between Croatia and Serbia are concerned, the arrival of Milanovic as head of the Croatian state will bring no change.

While he was Prime Minister, he began a trade war with Serbia, taught the neighboring countries not to do well when it came to refugees, and called the current president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who was then Serbian Prime Minister, a Chetnik.

Croatia took over the EU presidency on the first day of this year, and Milanovic made it clear in his campaign that he did not think of using the blockade of Serbian negotiations as a means of solving bilateral problems. He also said that it should be borne in mind that the two countries have good economic cooperation, and that many Croatian companies operate in Serbia.

However, he did not miss the opportunity to announce in one TV duel with Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic that "Croatia is a stronger country than Serbia".

Asked how he would address the issue of missing persons with Belgrade, Milanovic said briefly: "With pressure, with exerting constant pressure, as this issue must be resolved."

Although the SDP is a center-left political party, analysts say it is difficult to say for Milanovic that he is a leftist when it comes to his political background.

Milanovic graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Law, he is married and has two children.