Coalition talks begin after Croatian elections

Both the ruling conservative party and the socialist opposition separately opened coalition talks on Monday following parliamentary elections in Croatia, in what appears to be a tight race for a majority in parliament. The EU said it was confident that a government would be formed swiftly and gave its “full” support to the country’s EU membership bid.

The governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, is seeking to secure another term in office following Sunday’s (25 November) parliamentary elections. 

“Voters have given their trust to the HDZ. We have started coalition talks and we shall form the new government,” Sanader told reporters on 26 November.

His HDZ Party managed to win at least 61 seats in the 153-seat parliament, with a further five likely to be added on top of that. They are just ahead of the main opposition, the Social Democrats (SDP), who took 56 seats, according to the election commission. However, the HDZ is seeking to form a coalition with a smaller centrist grouping and some of the country’s ethnic minority parties to secure a stable majority.

Meanwhile, the SDP is refusing to concede defeat and is engaging in coalition talks itself in an attempt to form a majority in parliament, leaving it up to the smaller groups to decide which bloc will take the lead, as the race for a parliamentary majority takes off.

The likely kingmaker for the conservatives, who are currently in the lead, is the Conservative Peasant Party (HSS), who are critical of swift accession to the EU.

However, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the “broad consensus on the process of accession to the EU which exists among all the main political actors. I trust the future government will strive for EU membership and work on fulfilling the necessary criteria in order to meet the ambitious targets.”

Croatia started EU accession talks in 2005 and hopes to join the Union by 2010. Meanwhile, it hopes to receive an invitation to become a NATO member next year.

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