section_path: Campaign
section_name: Campaign
paragraph_text: Campaign
  
  The incumbent, Zoran Milanović, ran on an anti-corruption campaign, opposing social inequality and growing inflation, which he attributed to policies of the HDZ government. He said that his key values are "the rule of law, right to equality, personal freedoms and rights of minorities". On foreign policy, Milanović said he would "keep Croatia outside global conflicts," and that the country must "retain the right to independent decisions about its national interests". Milanović said he would not slow former Yugoslav countries' accession to the EU.
  
  Dragan Primorac ran on a campaign of co-operation with the HDZ government. He said he would "return civility... particularly to political and public spheres of life" and that "the military is always above politics", and he offered "unconditional adherence" to "Western values" and the NATO alliance. Primorac's campaign was conservative on regional issues. He promised to "offer special attention to the rights" of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and prevent Serbia from joining the EU unless it provided Croatia with access to archives containing information about mass graves from the Croatian War of Independence (1991 – 1995).
  
  Neither Primorac nor Milanović led an active campaign. Milanović attended only a single debate, on 23 December, during the first round of the elections, but his ratings remained high due to the popularity of his presidency. According to political analysts, both Milanović and Primorac expected to enter the second round regardless of their campaigns.
  
  Marija Selak Raspudić campaigned on a platform that included economic problems, population decline and corruption. Ivana Kekin campaigned against Dragan Primorac and the HDZ, accusing them of corruption in the healthcare sector. On 7 December a group of Croatian veterans from Imotski held a peaceful protest at the Vinjani Donji – Gorica border crossing against what they claimed was a "media blockade of candidate Tomislav Jonjić".
  
  In the first round Primorac trailed Milanović by 30 percentage points. In the only debate of the second round debate, on 7 January, both candidates turned to insults. Milanović accused Primorac of being "totally illiterate", while Primorac called Milanović a "pro-Russian puppet" who "divided" Croatia. On the same day, the Jutarnji list newspaper prematurely ended an online election poll after receiving 25,000 votes tipping the scale to Primorac in a short timespan from US-based internet addresses. In the wake of the debate, the Centre for Information Resilience, a UK-based organisation, published a report alleging that "pro-Russian, anti-EU, and anti-NATO bot networks" promoting Milanović on several social media networks were attempting to influence elections. However, the Večernji list national newspaper managed to contact the owner of one of the Facebook accounts singled out in the report. The account turned out to belong to a real person, a Facebook activist from Dugo Selo near Zagreb. Social media networks X and TikTok both denied the allegations; TikTok reported removing a different bot network promoting Primorac.