Croatian President Ivo Josipovic failed to win re-election in the first round

Baku. 29 December. REPORT.AZ/ Croatian President Ivo Josipovic failed to win re-election in the first round as NATO official Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic forced a Jan. 11 run-off on a campaign to help the Balkan country emerge from six years of recession, Report informs citing foreign mass media.

The Croatian Democratic Union, took 37.08 percent.

Milan Kujundzic, supported by a group of small right-wing parties, and Ivan Sincic, an independent, garnered 6.28 percent and 16.46 percent, respectively.

The new head of state will have to work with the Social-Democrat-led government to lead the country of 4.2 million people out of its longest recession on record. The central bank forecast growth of 0.2 percent next year.

Croatia which joined the European Union last year, has lost about 12 percent of gross domestic product since 2008, the last pre-crisis year, according to a World Bank report released earlier this month. Unemployment in the same period has doubled.