Slovenian Democratic Party leader Janez Jansa is expected to undo some of his predecessor’s pro-Palestine policies when he takes power. [Getty]
Slovenia’s parliament on Friday elected right-wing Janez Jansa as prime minister in a move set to reverse the country’s status as one of Palestine’s closest European allies.
Lawmakers voted 51-36 in favour of returning the three-time prime minister to power, a day after his nationalist Slovenian Democratic Party sealed a coalition agreement with several centre-right groups.
Slovenia’s liberal former prime minister Robert Golob narrowly won March’s parliamentary election but failed to form a government.
Jansa’s SDS came second place in the 22 March vote with 28 seats, behind Golob’s Freedom Movement, which won 29 seats.
Under Golob, Slovenia emerged as one of Israel’s staunchest critics in Europe and was at the forefront of efforts to impose EU-wide sanctions in response to its actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
In August, it became the first EU member to impose a full arms embargo on Israel and ban trade with illegal settlements.
It also formally recognised Palestinian independence, imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers, and backed South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Jansa, a Trump supporter and EU critic, is expected to align with Israel when he returns to power.
He has consistently backed Israel in its war on Gaza and criticised the recognition of a Palestinian state as “illegal”. He has also expressed support for moving the Slovenian embassy to Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Jansa following the parliamentary vote and said the two had agreed to “work together to put our countries back on a path of friendship and cooperation”.
It remains unclear how much of Golob’s Middle East policy he will be able to change.
Talking to Jewish News Syndicate, an Israeli official said the new government “will almost certainly reverse sanctions on Israeli officials” but cast doubt on whether he will have the political space to reverse the recognition of Palestine.
Election interference
The election was dogged by allegations of Israeli interference aimed at ousting Golob from power.
Slovenian law enforcement accused Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube of leaking recordings linking him to corruption days before the vote.
A report from a local rights group, meanwhile, alleged Jansa and SDS officials had met with representatives of the spy company in Slovenia multiple times ahead of the campaign.
Golob accused “foreign services” of interfering in the election and appealed to the EU to investigate the allegations.
“The fact that covert surveillance and wiretapping in this case involve a private intelligence agency from Israel points to something deeply troubling,” he said ahead of the vote. “This is not just another incident; it raises serious concerns about the integrity of the democratic process.”
His foreign minister condemned the leaks as “a direct attack against our sovereignty”.
SDS denied collaborating with foreign agents, though Jansa admitted to meeting Giora Eiland, a veteran Israeli military official and adviser to the company.
Slovenia’s intelligence agency plans to hand evidence of Black Cube’s activities in the country to the police and the public prosecution service.
Black Cube was formed in 2011 by a group of former Israeli intelligence officials.
It received wider attention in 2017 after it emerged it had acted on behalf of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein to bury the sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Fraying ties
Jansa’s election came amid widespread outrage on the continent over Israel’s abuse of European activists participating in the Gaza aid flotilla.
Footage of the extremist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, taunting detained activists triggered waves of condemnation, including among close allies in Germany and Italy.
France and Poland responded by issuing visa bans on Ben-Gvir, while ministers in the Netherlands voted in favour of banning Israeli settlement imports. Ireland, which last year began drafting its own legislation to curb trade with settlers, pledged to introduce it to parliament in the coming weeks.
The EU is yet to impose high costs on Israel for its unrestrained military action and gradual annexation of the West Bank, though support among European governments is being steadily eroded.
Close allies such as Italy have taken an increasingly tough public line against its actions. It also lost its staunchest supporter on the continent in April after Viktor Orban’s electoral defeat in Hungary.
