Populist elected as first female president

A conservative populist become Croatia's first female president on Sunday night after beating the center-left incumbent in a runoff election amid deep discontent over economic woes in the European Union's newest member.

The state electoral commission said with 97 percent of the vote counted, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won 50.54 of the vote, while President Ivo Josipovic had 49.46 percent.

The result meant that Grabar-Kitarovic won by a slight margin of about 21,000 votes, mostly Croats living abroad.