The liberals led by current Prime Minister Robert Golob hold a slight advantage over Janez Janša’s conservatives in the parliamentary elections on Sunday. Initial exit polls indicate Golob’s party receiving 29.9 percent, while Janša’s conservatives stand at 27.5 percent.

According to the first exit poll, Slovenia’s Liberals maintain a slim lead against the Conservative bloc.

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This election essentially revolves around two key contenders: the Freedom Movement, led by Prime Minister Robert Golob, and the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), headed by Janez Janša, who has served as prime minister three times and is an ally of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and admirer of former US President Donald Trump.

The contest is anticipated to be close, determining whether Slovenia continues on its centre-left trajectory or shifts toward the political right. Although Janša initially polled ahead, recent figures have narrowed the gap.

Experts anticipate that neither party will secure a clear majority in the 90-seat parliament, positioning smaller parties as potential power brokers.

“The result remains entirely unpredictable, which is typical for Slovenia, given its historically divided electorate,” noted Slovenian sociologist Samo Uhan.

Slovenia has long experienced intense political polarization, a situation exacerbated by a major scandal that broke out just days before the elections.

Golob has accused «foreign services» of meddling in the parliamentary elections after reports surfaced that representatives from Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube reportedly visited Slovenia in December and met with the main opposition candidate.

During a press conference on Monday, a Slovenian human rights organization, together with an investigative journalist and two researchers, claimed Black Cube orchestrated videos implicating alleged corruption connected to Janša’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).

Earlier this month, several secretly recorded discussions involving a prominent Slovenian lobbyist, a lawyer, a former minister, and a manager were released.

The footage reveals them proposing methods to influence decision-makers within Golob’s centre-left coalition government to accelerate processes or secure contracts.

In response, Janša’s SDS stated they had no knowledge of Black Cube and denounced the videos as exposing «unprecedented corruption within the leftist elite.»