Social Democrat Ivo Josipovic, who pledged to lead Croatia into the European Union and crack down on corruption, was elected president with over 60 percent of the vote, official results showed.

After the results were announced Josipovic told a crowd his supporters that he will work for a "just country" which honours European values.

NONE"I want a European Croatia, a Croatia that will be one of the shining stars in the European sky, not only by EU membership but by values that we stand for -- democracy, freedom, human rights, rule of law, minority rights (and) religious freedom," Josipovic said.

He took 60.29 percent of the vote in Sunday's run-off presidential election, while his rival, populist Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, garnered 39.71 percent, the official results from 99.62 percent of all polling stations showed.

Josipovic, a law professor and a classical music composer who has enjoyed an untarnished political career, reiterated his promise to lead an uncompromising fight against corruption

"Every citizen of this country tonight is a winner since I deeply believe that we all want a better, a more just Croatia (...) We all want to live in a country where work gets paid and crime is punished, the country of social security and justice."

A key challenge

The fight against corruption is a key challenge if Croatia -- which joined NATO last year -- wants to succeed in its bid to join the European bloc and put the trauma of the war further behind it.

NONEIn recent months several investigations were launched into alleged graft at state-run firms. More than a dozen officials have already been detained. Related article: Croatians backing bookish Mister Clean

Josipovic's election is "certainly an important step towards a boosting of ties between Zagreb and Brussels," Radovan Vukadinovic, an international relations expert, told AFP.

"He will try to make Croatia a country that can serve as an example to others in the region that are aspiring to join the EU.

"The process of EU integration of the region thus gets an important new dimension and provides a possibility to develop even better ties with Europe," he told AFP.

Of the six republics that made up Yugoslavia before it collapsed in a series of wars in the 1990s -- Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia -- only the latter is an EU member.

Josipovic, who will be Croatia's third president since its independence in 1991, has also promised to try to help pull the country's economy out of recession.

Unemployment is running at around 16 percent, and its economy is expected to have contracted up to 6.0 percent in 2009. Its external debt is meanwhile nearly 94 percent of gross domestic product.

Limited powers

For all his campaign pledges, the day-to-day running of Croatia is largely in the hands of a conservative government led by Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, as the president has limited powers.

Kosor early Monday welcomed the result of the presidential vote, vowing to cooperate with Josipovic.

"I believe that the cooperation between the new president and the government will be for the benefit of all citizens," Kosor who leads the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), told reporters.

NONE"I believe that president Josipovic and the current government will lead Croatia into the EU," she said.

Josipovic's election was also hailed by Croatian Serb leader Milorad Pupovac.

"Josipovic is the man that Croatia needs to continue the fight against corruption, reform the judiciary and economy, join the EU and settle relations with neighbours, notably Serbia," Pupovac was quoted by local media as saying.

Ties between Croatia and Serbia have gradually improved since the 1991-1995 war during which the Belgrade regime backed Serb rebels.

-AFP