BREAKING NEWS

Croats start voting in first parliamentary election since joining the EU

Croats began voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election, their first since joining the European Union in 2013, and the winner faces a tough task nurturing a fragile economic recovery and dealing with large numbers of migrants transiting the country.
More than 6,500 polling stations opened across the country at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. The first, preliminary, official results will be released at 10 p.m. 
Opinion polls suggest the opposition HDZ-led Patriotic Coalition will win by a narrow margin of about five parliamentary seats, an outcome likely to entail lengthy coalition talks with smaller parties.
The conservative Coalition favors a tougher stance than its main rival, the ruling Social Democrats, on the migrant issue, seeking stricter border controls to manage the flow of people crossing Croatia on their way to western Europe.