Croatia votes in a parliamentary election that’s a showdown between its president and prime minister

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Associated Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia is voting in a parliamentary election after a campaign that centered on a bitter rivalry between the president and prime minister of the small European Union and NATO member. The ballot Wednesday pits the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic against an alliance of centrist and left-wing parties informally led by populist President Zoran Milanovic and his Social Democratic Party. The election for the 151-seat Parliament is being held as Croatia struggles with the highest inflation rate in the eurozone, a labor shortage, illegal migration and reports of widespread corruption.