Croatia is located in southeastern Europe. During the 1990s, it became its own country. Separating itself from what was then Yugoslavia, in 2013, it became a member of the European Union.

In theory, it was supposed to be a little while longer before the country's next parliamentary election. However, as has been well-documented, COVID-19 has caused many changes in 2020. That included the date of Croatia's election which some felt would be safe to hold during the summer.

Plenkovic seems set to remain the prime minister

Incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković will most likely keep his job.

According to MSN, with almost 90 percent of the votes counted, his party showed a commanding lead. Not quite enough to have an outright majority, although it was still within reach. But, it was easy enough for a plurality.

Plenković leads the center-right political party Hrvatska demokratska zajednica. Sometimes known as the Croatian Democratic Union or Croatian Democratic Community. The left-of-center alliance Restart koalicija ('Restart Coalition') will likely finish in a distant second place. As noted by Balkan Insight, the coalition is led by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, or the Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske.

If the HDZ does fall short of a majority, there seem to be multiple potential coalition partners for them.

One of these is the Domovinski pokret, or Homeland Movement. The party is led by popular folk singer Miroslav Skoro. Another possibility is the Most nezavisnih list, often referred to as either 'Most' or the 'Bridge of Independent Lists'.

A number of other parties or coalition seem to have done well enough to win at least one seat.

One of them is the Zelena-lijeva koalicija ('Green-Left Coalition'). Another is the Hrvatska narodna stranka - Liberalni demokrati ('Croationa People's Party - Liberal Democrats').

The apparent decisive victory should help ease the blow dealt to the HDZ earlier in 2020. Its preferred presidential candidate, incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, lost her bid for re-election.

Plenković has been the prime minister since 2016

Andrej Plenković is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb. He went on to become a lawyer and a diplomat. Much of his time was spent representing Croatia to the European Union. For several years, he was Croatia's deputy ambassador to France.

Plenković first joined the Sabor, Croatia's Parliament, in 2011. In 2013, he became a member of the European Parliament.

Plenković was chosen to lead the HDZ in 2016, succeeding Tomislav Karamarko. Later in the year, a new Parliamentary election was held. Led by Plenković, the HDZ finished in first place. With a governing coalition formed, Andrej Plenković became the new prime minister of Croatia.
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