Croatian president to face leftist former PM in second-round run-off

Incumbent Kolinda Grabar KitaroviA comes second to Zoran MilanoviA after losing votes to rightwing singer Miroslav Akoro

Croatia's conservative president will face a liberal former prime minister in a runoff election in early January after no candidate won an outright majority in a first round of voting on Sunday, near-complete results showed.

The vote was held just days before Croatia takes over the European Union presidency for the first time. The governing conservatives are hoping to to keep their grip on power ahead of assuming the EU chairmanship.