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Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
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Kolinda
Grabar-Kitarovic was sworn in as Croatia's first female president on Sunday
after a surprise election victory in the European Union's newest member state, according to AP.
The
nationalist won the largely ceremonial presidency by edging liberal incumbent
Ivo Josipovic in a runoff vote in January amid deep discontent over economic
woes in Croatia.
The
inauguration ceremony of Grabar-Kitarovic, a former foreign minister,
ambassador to Washington and an ex-assistant to the NATO secretary general, was
attended by thousands of cheering supporters at a square in the old part of the
capital, Zagreb. Dozens of regional leaders and foreign officials attended the
event.
After
taking her oath, Grabar-Kitarovic said she will work on making Croatia — which
has a 20 percent unemployment rate and a six-year recession — "a rich
state."
She
said that after Croatia joined the EU in 2013, "I wish we start living the
lives of people in the European Union."
During
her election campaign she used tough words about neighboring Serbia, Croatia's
foe during the war for independence in the 1990s. But on Sunday she called for
resolving the differences and said all neighbors should join the EU for the
sake of lasting peace in southeastern Europe.
"We
are seeking for a better life in the future, without looking to the past,"
she said.
The
victory for Grabar-Kitarovic — giving her a five-year term — boosts the chances
of her center-right Croatian Democratic Union to win back power in
parliamentary elections scheduled later this year.
Grabar-Kitarovic, 46, is the fourth Croatian
president since independence from the former Yugoslavia. Autocratic nationalist
President Franjo Tudjman and his conservative HDZ party ruled Croatia until his
death in 1999, marking the start of democratization that put Croatia on track
to the EU.
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