Page 20 - bne IntelliNews Southeastern Europe Outlook 2025

1.11 Politics – Slovenia
The government of Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob came to power in June 2022 after his newly formed centre-left party, the Freedom Movement, won the April elections, defeating the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by Janez Janša.
The Freedom Movement secured 41 seats in the 90-seat parliament and formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats (SD) and the Left party, giving the coalition a total of 53 seats.
As Slovenia's political climate becomes increasingly turbulent, expectations for early elections in 2025 are growing. Anže Logar, former foreign minister and a ex-member of the SDS, recently stated he anticipates elections around October 2025, pointing to instability within the ruling coalition.
In July 2024, Janša reiterated his call for early elections, arguing that Slovenia requires a government focused on the common good. He also highlighted the SDS’s performance in the European Parliament elections, where, despite being in opposition and holding less than a quarter of the seats in the National Assembly, the party won more mandates than the entire governing coalition.
While regular parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2026, Janša has suggested that early elections could occur in April 2025. Logar, however, believes snap elections are more likely in the autumn of 2025. Since September 2023, support for the Freedom Movement has been declining, with December 2024 polls showing the ruling party at 14% compared to the SDS’s 20.3%.
In the meantime, rating agencies have revised their outlook on the Slovenian economy, signalling growing optimism. While Slovenia's credit ratings remain unchanged, three agencies have upgraded their outlooks from stable to positive this year.
In October, Moody’s joined S&P and Morningstar DBRS (MDBRS) in upgrading Slovenia’s outlook to positive. Standard & Poor’s maintained its credit rating at AA-, while MDBRS kept its rating at A+, with both agencies shifting their outlooks from stable to positive. Meanwhile, Scope Ratings affirmed Slovenia’s rating at A, retaining a stable outlook.
Slovenia commenced its first presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on September 1, 2024, marking the start of its 2024-2025 term.
The country aims to bring a fresh perspective to the Council's work, prioritising critical issues such as women's and girls' education in Afghanistan and advancing the Middle East peace process. Slovenia
20 SE Outlook 2025 www.intellinews.com