Slovenia votes in tight polls, with conservatives eyeing comeback

Slovenians began voting on Sunday in tight parliamentary elections, with the conservatives of veteran politician Janez Jansa, an admirer of US President Donald Trump, eyeing a comeback.

A Jansa return could see the ex-Yugoslav nation, a European Union member of two million people, take an illiberal turn again after four years of centre-left rule under liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob.

Foreign interference claims have shaken the campaign, with authorities probing whether an Israeli intelligence firm was behind secretly recorded videos suggesting alleged graft in Golob’s government.

“I think these are the most important elections in Slovenia in a long time,” a 26-year-old landscape architect, who only gave her name as Shiva, told AFP this week in the capital, Ljubljana.

The last government of three-time premier Jansa — who is also an ally of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — saw mass protests and EU criticism over rule-of-law concerns.

Under Golob, a political newcomer when he took over from Jansa in 2022, Slovenia legalised same-sex marriage and became one of the few EU countries to describe Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide”.

Polls opened at 7:00 am local time (0600 GMT), according to AFP journalists. They will close at 7:00 pm, with exit polls released just after the closure.

– ‘Slovenian values’ –

Jansa’s conservatives long polled ahead of Golob’s liberals, but the gap has recently closed, according to opinion polls, with the two parties now running neck-and-neck.

In his campaign, Jansa, 67, has pledged to restore “Slovenian values” such as the “traditional family” and “close the pipe” of state money to NGOs deemed political parties.

“The Slovenian citizen must be at the forefront, not Palestine, not illegal migrants,” Jansa said at a public TV debate on Friday, calling the vote “a referendum on corruption”.

Gaja Grcar, a 22-year-old student who attended one of Jansa’s rallies earlier this month, said “God, homeland and family, those are the Slovenian values”.

Golob, 59, said in Friday’s debate that voters were deciding “what kind of Slovenia” they want.

“For those who love Slovenia under the free sun, the choice is very clear,” said the former power company manager.

– Election interference claims –

Golob on Thursday asked the EU to probe alleged election interference following the publication of the series of secretly recorded videos.

Slovenian authorities are investigating whether Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube was behind the videos, which feature a Slovenian lobbyist, a lawyer, a former minister and a manager.

The videos allegedly show the officials suggesting ways to influence decision makers in Golob’s government to speed up procedures or win contracts.

Jansa this week admitted to having met a Black Cube official, but has denied being behind the videos.

On Friday, more than 1,000 people gathered in front of parliament to urge fellow citizens to cast their vote.

“This campaign has been one of the dirtiest and most content-free campaigns in the history of Slovenia… People are disappointed,” one of the rally organisers, Jasa Jenull, told AFP.

He warned the country was “facing a slide into totalitarianism”.

Far-right parties have made significant gains across Europe in recent years amid economic downturns and fears over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“If the right-wing bloc wins, this would mean the fall of another liberal stronghold in Europe, another nail in the liberal democracy’s coffin,” political commentator Aljaz Pengov Bitenc told AFP.