It was a dismal result for his opponent Dragan Primorac, who had the backing of the governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.
The outcome was met with a muted response from Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
Milanovic has been a frequent critic of the governing party on issues including corruption, inflation and healthcare.
Before becoming president, Milanovic was prime minister of Croatia from 2011 to 2016, and led the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) from 2007 to 2016.
The governing HDZ has been the dominant party since Croatia gained independence more than 30 years ago.
After Zoran Milanovic received nearly three-quarters of the vote in Croatia’s presidential election, the country’s voters re-elected him to a second term.
Dragan Primorac, his opponent and the supporter of the ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, had a poor outcome.
Primorac received 25% of the vote, which is the lowest percentage ever for Croatia’s most influential political party.
Andrej Plenkovic, prime minister, responded to the outcome in a subdued manner.
He insisted that “Milanovic offers nothing” and refused to congratulate the winner.
Milanovic promised the prime minister that he would “offer a hand.”.
The president of Croatia serves primarily as a ceremonial head of state for all citizens, as stipulated by the constitution, rather than as a party political figure.
Milanovic frequently criticizes the ruling party on matters like healthcare, inflation, and corruption.
In addition to denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he has regularly criticized the West for its military assistance to Kyiv.
Prior to being elected president, Milanovic led the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) from 2007 to 2016 and served as Croatia’s prime minister from 2011 to 2016.
After declaring he would run for prime minister, he momentarily meddled in the nation’s parliamentary elections last year, but a court declared the action unconstitutional.
He retaliated by accusing the judges of following the wishes of “the gangster clique,” as he called the HDZ.
Ever since Croatia gained its independence over 30 years ago, the ruling HDZ has been the dominant party.