AFP - Croatians vote Sunday in a presidential run-off pitting a leftwing professor against the populist Zagreb mayor, with the winner expected to lead the former Yugoslav republic into the European Union.

A final poll showed a solid lead of almost 17 percent for Ivo Josipovic, of the opposition Social Democrats (SDP) against his rival, Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, who ran as an independent.

Josipovic won the December 27 first round with 33.4 percent of the vote, more than double the support for Bandic.

The 52-year-old law expert and classical music composer, vowed to lead a "firm and uncompromised fight against corruption," a key criteria for Zagreb's EU bid.

Croatia hopes to become the bloc's 28th member by 2012.

Bandic, a veteran SDP member expelled from the party when he announced his candidacy for the presidency last November, called on the electorate "vote for a man and not for a party."

During the campaign the two contenders pledged a similar agenda -- Croatia's EU entry during their mandate, stepping up the fight against corruption and reviving the economy in the recession-hit country.

Croatia, where unemployment is running at around 16 percent, is forecasting a contraction of up to 6.0 percent in its economy for 2009. Its external debt has now risen to nearly 94 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), official figures show.

Despite a similar platform Bandic and Josipovic project vastly different images.

Josipovic has a reputation as a competent politician untarnished by corruption, but analysts say with his bookish professorial looks he has failed to connect strongly with voters.

By contrast the energetic and outspoken Bandic has styled himself a fighter for the common man.

He has also moved to the right, trying to pick up voters after the candidate of the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party failed to make the run-off. He also enjoys the backing of Croatia's powerful Roman Catholic Church.

A total of 4.4 million Croatians are entitled to vote. The polling stations open at 7 am (0600 GMT) and close 12 hours later. Exit polls are to be released shortly after polls close, with the first official results expected by midnight.