The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Joseph Daul, congratulated Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on her victory against incumbent Ivo Josipović in the second round of the presidential elections held yesterday in Croatia, as well as the EPP member parties HDZ and HSS, which supported her candidature:

“Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will be an excellent President of Croatia. She has a compelling vision for the future of the country and has outlined a programme which responds to the concrete concerns of the Croatian people. She has answers to the challenges of achieving a better economic and social situation and, importantly, is firmly committed to strengthening the rule of law and tackling challenges like corruption. The first female President of Croatia, she also has the necessary experience and leadership to unite the Croatian citizens.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović also has strong international experience and has made significant contributions to facilitate the accession of Croatia to the EU and to NATO. She has an extraordinary reputation in the European arena. Her experience in this regard will be crucial for Croatia in order to further strengthen its role as an important actor in the European project. She will serve as an example for the other Balkan countries.

Finally, I would like to congratulate HDZ and its leader, Tomislav Karamarko, on the party’s third consecutive electoral victory since 2012, and I am hopeful that our EPP member parties HDZ and HSS will see similar success in the next parliamentary elections.”