Prime Minster Andrej Plenkovic and President Zoran Milanovic were the headline acts ahead of the vote.

But it looks like the supporting players may have stolen the show in Croatia’s parliamentary elections – with a messy post-election period likely to follow.

Preliminary results suggest that parties ranging from the nationalist right to the green left have gained a significant number of seats in parliament. Neither the prime minister’s governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) nor the president’s favoured Social Democratic Party (SDP) have claimed enough seats to form a government.

It means that Croatians are bracing themselves for weeks of political horse-trading, to see if a governing coalition can be formed. Or, failing that, a viable minority government.

The HDZ clearly – and unsurprisingly, given its unmatched resources and organisation – remains the largest party. But its numbers are significantly down on the last election in 2020 – and well short of the 76 required for a majority.

Meanwhile, the SDP will be disappointed that its controversial backing from President Milanovic – who was banned by the Constitutional Court from standing as a candidate for prime minister – has not brought more seats. Its total is little changed from 2020.

As a party whose support covers a wide range of voters ranging from the centre-right to right-wing nationalists, the HDZ would usually look for the support of smaller parties on the same part of the political spectrum.

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