Volkswacht Bodensee - Slovenia PM claims election win as results show neck and neck finish

Golob took over from Jansa as a political newcomer in 2022 to lead a three-party centre-left coalition in the ex-Yugoslav nation, a European Union member 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 more than 99 percent of the votes counted, Golob's liberal party stood at 28.54 percent and the conservatives of veteran politician Jansa at 28.17 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", 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 sovereignity. We will not let foreigners decide about our sovereignity," he said.

- 'Weak governments' -

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.

"We are not going to form weak governments," Jansa said at his party headquarters earlier after an exit poll gave Golob's party a narrow lead, adding he was awaiting the final results.

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, 67, 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.

"Slovenian voters have the power of their vote in their hands only today. And if this power is not used, Slovenia will slide backwards instead of catching up with developed Europe," he told reporters after casting his vote.

The last government of three-time premier Jansa -- an ally of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- 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.

H.Gerber--VB