CROATIA ELECTS FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT

Opposition challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was elected Croatia's first female president  narrowly winning a tight run-off vote with a pledge to kickstart the EU country's ailing economy. The president's post in Croatia is a ceremonial position. Grabar-Kitarovic is Croatia's fourth president since its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

The politically conservative Grabar-Kitarovic, an ex-foreign minister and former NATO official, won 50.4 percent of the vote, according to results based on more than 99 percent of the ballots cast. Her rival, centre-left incumbent Ivo Josipovic, garnered 49.6 percent of the vote, results released by the electoral commission showed.

The 46-year-old candidate of the main opposition HDZ party will be the first woman to take the helm of the European Union's newest member state.

Croatia's economy remains among the EU bloc's weakest. Unemployment stands at almost 20 percent, rising to 50 percent for the under-25s, and the government forecasts a meagre 0.5 percent growth this year.