A total of 11 candidates have met the necessary conditions to run in Croatia's presidential race to be held on 22 December, the State Election Commission (DIP) said on Thursday.

The DIP established that out of 12 candidate petitions which were submitted to it until 3 December, 11 petitions met the necessary requirements, while one petition, submitted by independent candidate Slobodan Midzic, had only one signature, which was why it was declared invalid.

The 11 valid petitions included more than the required number of signatures, the threshold being 10,000 signatures.

The official campaign starts with the publication of the valid candidatures and they were submitted by the incumbent president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, former Social Democratic Party prime minister Zoran Milanovic, singer-turned-politician Miroslav Skoro, a former judge and current member of the European Parliament, Mislav Kolakusic, economist Dejan Kovac, right-wing Desno party leader Anto Djapic, film director Dario Jurican, who goes by the name of Milan Bandic, Croatian Parliament member Ivan Pernar, the leader of the all-Croatian party of speakers of Chakavian, Kajkavian and Shtokavian dialects, Nedjeljko Babic, as well as Workers’ Front candidate Katarina Peovic and START leader Dalija Oreskovic.

In 2004, as many as 13 candidates vied for Croatia’s presidency, while five years ago, only four candidates ran in the election.