Slovenia's conservative shift: Janša secures 51-vote majority, reverses Israel policy and targets nuclear expansion

Slovenia's National Assembly confirmed Janez Janša as prime minister for a fourth non-consecutive term on a 51-vote majority, installing a conservative governing coalition in the central European economy and immediately reversing course on foreign policy, energy, and business regulation. The Slovenian Democratic Party took 28 of 90 parliamentary seats in the March 22 election with 27.9% of the vote, fewer than rival Robert Golob's Freedom Movement, yet Janša built the winning bloc where Golob could not. The agenda in motion covers Israel defense trade, a second nuclear reactor, and the EU's immigration framework.

The coalition math

Golob's Freedom Movement won 29 seats and 28.7% of the vote, a net loss of 12 seats from 2022, but failed to assemble the 46 votes needed to govern over a month of talks. Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar declined to nominate anyone after those discussions stalled. Janša then secured 51 votes in a secret ballot: 48 from his coalition and allied parties, two from the representatives of Slovenia's Italian and Hungarian minorities, and one from an unidentified member of the opposition.

Foreign policy: Israel reversal, Ukraine solidarity, immigration letter

The new government reversed the previous administration's anti-Israel stance in its opening weeks. Janša announced plans to move the Slovenian embassy to Jerusalem, froze the country's recognition of a Palestinian state, and revoked a 2025 ban on military trade with Israel. On Ukraine, his record separates him from former close ally Viktor Orbán, the former Hungarian prime minister. Janša traveled to Kyiv in March 2022 alongside the then-Polish and Czech prime ministers in an early EU solidarity gesture against the Russian invasion, returned for the Ukraine Statehood Day event at the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, and backs increased military aid and tougher sanctions on Russia.

On immigration, Janša signed a letter with 18 other EU leaders calling for tighter controls on irregular migration, more deportations, and stronger cooperation with third countries. He described Slovenia as "finally joining" others in demanding those reforms.

Domestic agenda: deregulation, pension reform, Krško reactor

At home, Janša characterized the outgoing Golob government's record as one of "inefficiency." His stated program includes cutting business red tape, reducing the size of government, reforming the pension system, and supporting private education and healthcare. The clearest infrastructure commitment on record: a second reactor at Slovenia's Krško nuclear power plant. No cost estimate or construction timeline has been published.

What to watch

Janša is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly in September. No legislative calendar for the domestic reform package has been confirmed, and no meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump has been announced. The personal connection to Washington is already part of the political backdrop: First Lady Melania Trump was born in Slovenia.