Croatia's President Zoran Milanović re-elected by a landslide in Sunday run-off

Croatia's opposition-backed President Zoran Milanović has scored a landslide win in Sunday’s second round presidential election, defeating a candidate from the ruling conservative party in a runoff vote, official results showed.

Milanović won more than 74% of the vote compared to his challenger Dragan Primorac, who received nearly 26%, according to the results released by Croatia's state election authorities after more than 99% of the ballots were counted.

The result presents a major boost for Milanović, who is a critic of Western military support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Milanović is also a fierce opponent of Croatia's conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his government.

In a speech after the results were released, Milanović said his victory was a sign of approval and trust from the voters but also presented a message "about the state of affairs in the country for those who need to hear it."

"I am asking them (the government) to hear it," said Milanović. "That is what the citizens wanted to say. This is not just support for me."

Milanović is the most popular politician in Croatia and is sometimes compared to US President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.

Milanović also won comfortably in the first round of voting on 29 December, leaving Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for president previously, and six other candidates far behind.

The runoff between the top two contenders was necessary because Milanović fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.

The election was held as Croatia, which has a population of 3.8 million, struggles with biting inflation, corruption