Deadlocked Croatia holds uncertain snap elections

ZAGREB — Croatians voted on Sunday in a snap election whose outcome might prolong political uncertainty in the EU’s newest member, which had shifted to the right under previous conservative governments. The election comes as the former Yugoslav republic faces economic struggles and at a time of strained ties between neighbors in the volatile Balkans, notably with former enemy Serbia. At 0930 GMT, four-and-a-half hours after polling stations opened, turnout was nearly 19 percent, the electoral commission said. It was some three percentage points less than at the same time in the November elections. Some 3.8 million Croatians are eligible to cast ballots after a November election produced no absolute winner. Polling stations close at 1700 GMT. A barely-functioning coalition government, led by the conservative HDZ party, took power after that vote before collapsing in June over a conflict of interest scandal. The coalition’s five-month rule was marked by a shift to the right amid a growing climate of intolerance, including attacks on independent media and minorities, notably ethnic Serbs. Authorities have appeared to turn a blind eye to the far-right surge, but it has sparked global concern and brought already frosty ties with Serbia to their lowest level since Croatia’s 1990s independence war. — AFP