Il Nuovo Postiglione - Slovenia liberal PM claims win over conservatives in tight vote

Golob took over from Donald Trump admirer Janez Jansa as a political newcomer in 2022, leading a three-party centre-left coalition in the country of two million people.

The race was expected to be tight, and foreign interference claims shook the campaign, with authorities probing whether an Israeli company was behind secretly recorded videos suggesting alleged graft in Golob's government.

With 99.85 percent of the votes counted, Golob's liberal party stood at 28.62 percent and the conservatives of veteran politician Jansa at 27.95 percent.

The results put Golob's party on 29 seats compared to 28 for Jansa, in the 90-seat parliament.

"Since we have received the (people's) confidence, now we can think about going forward under a free sun," Golob, 59, told cheering supporters at his party's headquarters.

He hailed a vote for "democracy" in the EU member nation, promising to "do everything to grant a better future to all citizens in our next mandate".

"We face tough negotiations but we will not negotiate about our sovereignty. We will not let foreigners decide about our sovereignty," he said, adding he would invite all parties to coalition talks.

- 'Count every vote' -

Three-time premier Jansa -- an ally of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- described the vote as a "referendum on corruption" in reference to the videos.

"We will count every vote from all polling stations," Jansa, 67, warned, but also said earlier that he would not form a "weak government".

The rest of the vote is shared around a disparate mosaic of smaller parties, so that analysts predict it will be difficult to form a stable government.

An anti-establishment party and a conservative party formed by a former Jansa ally have managed to enter parliament, fragmenting it further.

Under Golob, Slovenia legalised same-sex marriage and became one of the few EU countries to describe Israel's war in Gaza as "genocide"

In his campaign, Jansa pledged to put Slovenians "at the forefront" and restore "Slovenian values" such as the "traditional family" and "close the pipe" of state money to NGOs deemed political parties.

The last Jansa-led government saw mass protests and EU criticism over rule-of-law concerns.

- 'Ugly' video scandal -

Tine Maher, 30, an AI and IT entrepreneur, told AFP at a Ljubljana polling station that he expected "a change of the government, it's really necessary. There have been many empty promises."

Ivana Prijatelj, a pensioner from Ljubljana, said she was "satisfied with how things are right now".

"Nothing is wrong now, at least for me," she told AFP at a polling station, adding she did not listen to the secretly recorded videos, saying the whole affair was "too ugly".

Golob this week asked the EU to probe alleged election interference following the publication of the videos.

The videos allegedly show the officials suggesting ways to influence decision makers in Golob's government to speed up procedures or win contracts.

A civil society group, together with an investigative journalist and two researchers, early this week accused Black Cube of being behind the videos and linked it to Jansa's party.

Jansa has admitted to having met a Black Cube official, but has denied being behind the videos.

A.Riccobono--INP