Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar on Monday urged political parties to start negotiations as soon as possible to form a new government following parliamentary elections held over the weekend, which produced no clear winner.
Preliminary results show Prime Minister Robert Golob’s pro-European Freedom Movement won 29 of 90 parliamentary seats, while the opposition right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by Janez Janša secured 28 seats.
No party achieved the 46-seat majority required to govern, meaning the next government will depend on negotiations with smaller parties that have emerged as kingmakers.
“I call on the parties to sit at the negotiating table as soon as possible,” Pirc Musar said on X, congratulating Golob’s party on a “relative victory.”
Golob thanked voters for their support, reaffirming his party’s position as the leading political force, but cautioned that “tough weeks” of negotiations lie ahead with other parliamentary groups.
Janša, meanwhile, stated that his party does not wish to form a “weak coalition,” adding that the current balance of power does not promise stability.
The elections followed a heated campaign marked by allegations of foreign interference and corruption, intensifying political tensions in the country.
Since gaining independence in 1991, Slovenia, with a population of about two million, has regularly alternated power between right- and left-leaning coalitions. The country has been a member of NATO and the European Union since 2004.
