Surprise victory for Slovenia’s centre right

Preliminary results show the the Slovene
Democratic Party, led by Janez Jansa, coming out on top in the
country’s general elections on 3 October.

This year’s general elections have brought a surprise
victory to the Slovene centre right Democratic Party over
Anton Rop’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the dominant
power since the country’s independence in
1991.

With 99 per cent of the vote counted, the Slovene
Democratic Party (SDS), led by Janez Jansa, came out
on top with 29.1 per cent of the vote.
Slovenia’s centre left Liberal Democrats
(LDS) finished second with 22.8 per cent. The
coalition of Social Democrats took third place with about
ten per cent of the vote.

Although opinion polls prior to the elections had
widely predicted a victory for the ruling coalition, a
recent territorial dispute with Croatia had hurt the
position of Rop’s party in the run-up to the elections.
“The Liberal Democrats have been leading the government
for a long time, which has resulted in some getting
fed up,” was Rop’s explanation for his party’s
defeat.

Against a backdrop of rising euroscepticism, the
opposition fared remarkably well in the European
elections in June. Slovenia, a country of two
million inhabitants but the richest of the new
Member States, increasingly fears being overpowered by
foreign powers in the EU.

Jansa, a former defence minister, has portrayed
himself as a tough leader not afraid to stand up
to the big countries. In his initial
reactions to the outcome of the vote, Jansa said that
under his leadership Slovenia’s policies
would not differ markedly from that of the
previous government: “If we form a government, our
policy will be a continuation policy in everything that
is good and a policy of changes in cases where not
everyone benefited from progress,” Jansa was quoted as
saying.

The SDS is expected to begin coalition talks with
other right wing parties on 4 October.

Read more with Euractiv

Survey suggests Europeans want to become independent from the US

A new survey of Americans and Europeans shows that a deterioration in EU/US relationship, starting with the war in Iraq, has hardened. This confirms a perception that a fundamental change in transatlantic relations may be underway.