SLOVENIA: Slovenia’s president said Monday he will offer a mandate to form the government to a right-wing opposition leader whose party won most votes at weekend parliamentary elections in the European Union nation.
Slovenia was once part of Yugoslavia and is the native home of U.S. first lady Melania Trump. Bordering Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and a slice of the Adriatic Sea, the country joined the European Union in 2004 and has used the euro as its official currency since 2007.
Observers in Slovenia are predicting long and tough post-election talks because a total of nine parties have entered the parliament, including the far-right National Party.
However, the center-right Slovenia Democratic Party (SDS) of former prime minister Janez Jansa may struggle to pull together a government as its hardline stance on immigration has left it short of potential coalition partners.
SDS will have 25 seats in the 90-seat assembly. The only party that has so far said it will work with the SDS is the centre-right Nova Slovenija which won 7.1% and has seven seats.
The SDS leader’s success with Slovenia’s two million voters further excels the country’s growth of right-wing populism and drive for tougher anti-immigration rules.
The SDS, supported by Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is firmly opposed to such quotas and says most of the money used to support them should be diverted to the security forces.
Janez Jansa, who was prime minister from 2004 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013, had said he would cut taxes and speed up privatization.
Jansa said the migration crisis is one of the biggest challenges that the EU faces, adding that it should work to improve conditions in countries where migrants come from.
The outgoing centre-left prime minister Miro Cerar’s Modern Center party slipped to fourth place.
