Sunday’s (22 March) keenly-awaited Slovenian national election is expected to be a tight race between the incumbent centre-left Prime Minister Robert Golob, and the right-wing bloc led by Janez Janša, a three-time former PM.
Slovenians will vote on 22 March in an election that could reinstall a right-wing populist in power.
Opinion polls have consistently given the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), led by Janša, who has been PM for seven of the past 22 years and has been a familiar fixture in Slovenian politics since the 1990s, a narrow lead over incumbent Golob’s Freedom Movement.
Janša, a Trumpian ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has campaigned to restore “Slovenian values”, and has focused on the “traditional family”. If, as polls predict, Janša does win it would be the first time since 2012 that he was able to form a post-election coalition.
While he has, in the past, drawn censure from the European Parliament for his perceived record on press freedom and the rule of law, the election campaign has, in the last few days, been thrown into some turmoil by new claims, widely reported by the international and Brussels-based media, about private intelligence agents, allegedly, attempting to interfere with the election.
This prompted Renew Europe, one of the mainstream political groupings in the European Parliament, to issue a statement which states that “is deeply concerned about reports that have emerged about possible foreign interference in the elections process in Slovenia.”
The statement from RE, which has 77 MEPs, goes on, “This is not the first time we see attempted interference in a European election and it marks a worrying trend, which demands a European level investigation and response.”
The RE statement from the pro-European RE, one of the main centrist groups in the institution, adds, “We call for a truly independent investigation, cooperation between institutions and immediate action. Without fair and free national elections, European democracy is under threat.
Renew Europe président Valérie Hayer, a senior French MEP, commented, “Elections must be free from any manipulation, domestic or foreign. What we are seeing is very concerning. The indications pointing towards Janez Jansa are serious and need a full, transparent investigation, including a European perspective.
“This is not just about Slovenia, it is a European issue. We must protect European democracy and the rule of law,” said Hayer, an MEP since 2019. Renew Europe says it has spearheaded the fight to tackle foreign interference and currently chairs the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS).
Further comment comes from Austrian MEP Helmut Brandstätter, the EUDS coordinator, who said:“I intend to raise this issue on a EU level in the committee.”
The former journalist added, “This is yet another wake up call for Europe. Decisive action against foreign information manipulation, strengthening platform accountability, and safeguarding elections on an EU-level must be our main priority. This is a question of our sovereignty and security. Our efforts for a centralised and enforceable framework that truly protects citizens, election integrity across Europe will continue.”
The Renew Europe statement concluded, “It is clear – the fundamental rights of citizens to vote and choose and sovereign and must remain so.”
The allegations have been widely reported by several major news outlets including Politico along with Euronews which said they had “overshadowed” the election campaign.
Yesterday (Thursday), PM Golob was among EU leaders attending a key EU summit in Brussels. Golob, reports Euronews, has accused foreign actors of attempting to interfere in Slovenia’s election process.
Euronews goes on to say the PM has written to the EC asking it to investigate the allegations, warning that such actions “pose a clear hybrid threat against the European Union and its Member States.”
The Times of Malta further reports French President Emmanuel Macron, who also attended the one day summit, as saying that Golob “was the victim of clear-cut interference” by “third countries” and misinformation.
On the eve of Sunday’s election,this website canvassed opinion from some senior EU policymakers, past and present, and others.
Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, believes people in Slovenia, a country of just over 2 million, deserve a “credible, forward-looking leadership – not the tactics and covert operations that have been exposed by recent media reports.”
With centre-left parties of the current government running to secure a second mandate, this time joined by Vesna Green Party,Cuffe hopes there is a “true chance to make sure progressives secure that the right stays out of the government.”
Vesna runs in alliance with Levica (The Left), on a platform with plans to build 20,000 public rental homes by 2032, expand elderly care services, renewables to cut energy poverty, and introduce free public transport for pupils and students.
Vula Tsetsi, also Co-Chair of the European Green Party, adds that “foreign interference, particularly from Israel, Russia or others, in elections in Slovenia and Hungary is a direct threat to our democracies and to the stability of the European Union.”
“Protecting citizens and safeguarding the integrity of our elections must be our priority. At a time of global instability and rising living costs, Europe cannot afford mini-Trumps who fuel chaos and division.”
Vesna and Levica offer a different path – stability, credibility and real solutions – for people’s daily lives, argues Tsetsi, adding that the EU “needs examples of reaching beyond our differences and forming a new, strong progressive force that can stand up to the right-wing populists.”
Slovenian MEP Irena Joveva told this site: “Firstly, it is important to say that Janša has spent his career attacking the rule of law, famously lashing out at the Council of Europe over media freedom reports and waging a years-long war against the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija, Slovenian press agency, judiciary, EPPO and of course Brussels – all very common line of attacks for a right-wing populists.”
“SDS party has sort of parallel structures in Slovenia, with their own party media, incidentally, financed by Orban’s oligarchs. So, it’s not like that Orban and Janša are only political allies but are also financially intertwined.
“We all know how Orban is destabilizing and undermining the Union from within, and this is not limited to his position to Ukraine but foremost also on destruction of the rule of law and building a captured state. The last thing Union needs is another nationalistic populist undermining the EU from within. We already have at least two member states blocking important legislation or tools in the EU, while they are at the same time also preventing reforms the EU urgently needs, especially important in this period of geopolitical turbulence.”
The Euro deputy claims Janša was “already very disruptive of the processes of the EU when he was prime minister” adding, “and frankly the EU can afford only so many heads of governments of nationalistic populists, until the EU starts to crumble from within.”
Further comment comes from Irish MEP Barry Andrews who believes this weekend’s elections are important not only for Slovenia but also for Europe, adding, “I encourage everyone to consider their vote carefully.”
“The Slovenian government has stood up for international law and human rights in recent years, which is something badly needed at this time of global turmoil.”
Ex-UK centrist MEP Edward McMillan-Scott is a former vice president of the EU parliament and says that, although the country is small, the stakes are “unusually high” for the European Union,:
“For Brussels, this contest is about far more than domestic politics. Premier Golob positions the race as a frontline battle against Europe’s surging populist right – represented in Slovenia by former premier Janez Jansa – and has explicitly warned that a Rightist victory would shift the balance within the European Council.”
The ideological divide, he notes, also maps neatly onto EU political families. Golob’s Freedom Movement sits with the Renew Europe group, while Janša’s SDS is aligned with the EPP, meaning the outcome will resonate directly inside the European Parliament.
In Brussels, Renew figures have praised Golob’s “pro‑European direction” and warned that the previous Janša administration brought “European isolation,” strained partnerships, and democratic concerns — a narrative that underscores why EU institutions are watching closely, says the former UK deputy.
Another ex senior MEP, Labour’s Richard Corbett, fears that, after Sunday’s poll, the EU may well be confronted with a national government “willing to sabotage or blackmail the EU by vetoing all decisions that require unanimity within the Council.”
“It is time,” he declares, “to start serious consideration of using the various complicated ways of circumventing such vetoes.”
Britain’s former Europe Minister Denis MacShane bemoans the fact that, “Alas, north and west of the Alps, Slovenia doesn’t feature big in political discussion in the rest of Europe.”
The main outcome to look for is whether Slovenia “turns to Orban and Trump as models to follow or stays with a broad middle of the road coalition which has delivered strong employment figures for most Slovenians.”
He goes on, “But as elsewhere in Europe the classic 20th century parties – centre-right, social democratic, liberal – are quietly fading away.”
Giles Merritt, a former FT bureau chief, says it’s “increasingly noticeable in the EU that fear of populist parties’ appeal is shifting to more determined tactics confronting their lack of plausible solutions to Europeans’ very real problems.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty points out that there are no national elections in any of the big European countries in 2026, “which is something of anomaly — and a relief for many.”
Instead, all eyes have turned to the run-up to the April 12 election in Hungary in which polls indicate that the 16-year reign of Viktor Orban may come be coming to an end.
Sunday’s Slovenian poll may be little discussed outside of the country itself …and yet it this that could have major consequences for the EU and act as something of a bellwether of things to come in Hungary next month.
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