ZAGREB : Croatian President Stipe Mesic overwhelmingly defeated his ruling conservative party rival in the election runoff, exit polls showed, securing a second five-year term in which he promised to lead the former Yugsolav republic into the European Union. After voting closed at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT), an exit poll by HTV state television gave the centrist Mesic 70.85 percent of the ballots, against just 29.15 percent for Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The first partial official results were not due until after midnight. In the first round on January 2, Mesic won 48.92...