Croatia’s HDZ, DP agree to form parl majority

HDZ and DP have agreed on the formation of a government, with Andrej Plenkovic set to lead in a third mandate, Marko Milic, member of the negotiating team of HDZ, was quoted as saying in a note posted by HDZ on Facebook.

The proposed agreement, including the allocation of ministries in the future government, will be presented to the party's committees today. After this, it will be announced to the public, he added.

HDZ won the general election held on April 17.

The pro-Western union and its partners secured 61 of 151 seats in the single-chamber parliament, followed by the Rivers of Justice coalition led by the main opposition party, centre-left Social Democrats, SDP, with 42 seats, according to the official results announced by the election commission (DIP).

The Eurosceptic and populist political formation DP emerged as the third strongest political entity in the new parliament with 14 seats, followed by the conservative populist political party Most (Bridge) with 11 seats. The left-wing green political party Mozemo (We Can) will hold 10 seats.

Two regionalist formations, the centre-right Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) and the independent platform NP Sjever (North), each secured two seats. Meanwhile, the coalition Fokus-Republika gained one seat.

National minorities in Croatia are entitled to eight representatives in parliament.

Plenkovic has been prime minister since October 2016. Under his collation government, the Adriatic country of 3.8 million people entered the eurozone and the visa-free Schengen area on January 1, 2023.