As media attention focussed on the French presidential elections, Slovenia also headed to the polls on Sunday and gave Robert Golob a resounding victory, setting him up to be the next prime minister. The political newcomer ousted the far-right incumbent, Janez Janša who had served three terms in office.
With a strong centre-left agenda that focuses on environmental policies, Golob's newly-created Freedom Movement secured 34.5% of the vote, with Janša taking just 23.6%.
Turnout was up 15%, with 67% of Slovenians casting their vote on Sunday, compared to 52% in 2018.
Rejection of Janša's agenda
Golob built the party as a response to the political anger in Slovenia against Janša's third premiership since 2020, where he implemented extremist and far-right reforms, such as undermining democratic institutions and curtailing the freedom of the press.
Janša is an open admirer of Trump and an ally of Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban, having spent his third time as PM pushing Slovenia to the right.
According to a recent report by Freedom House, Slovenia was the country with the largest fall in democratic standards in the world. Janša's government has “sidelined parliament and exerted considerable political and financial pressure on civil society organizations, public media services, the judiciary, and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office”.
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Janša was the only EU leader to not congratulate Joseph Biden on his US election victory, opting to congratulate Donald Trump instead, even after the polls showed he had lost.
Janša was openly hostile to the EU, and often attacked the left by pushing disinformation, often resorting to antisemitic tropes about George Soros and against migrants.
The election victory comes in the shadow of Emmanuel Macron’s defeat of Marine Le Pen. As EU leaders and institutions were quick to shower congratulations on Macron, Golob's victory seemed largely forgotten. However, Golob's far more progressive and pro-EU stance will be an important change from Janša's harsh criticism of the bloc and will reduce the illiberal alliance that Slovenia had formed alongside Hungary and Poland.
Stephane Séjourné, President of Renew Europe in the European Parliament, where Golob’s Freedom Movement is also a member, said in a statement: “These results are a bloody nose for illiberals and a chance to make Europe stronger.”
