Slovenia goes to the polls amid rise in anti-Romany rhetoric

Campaigners in Slovenia condemned a surge in anti-Romany rhetoric as the country yesterday voted in parliamentary elections that have become, in part, a referendum on how the nation treats its most marginalised.

- Ashifa Kassam European community affairs correspondent

The prime minister, Robert Golob, of the centre-left Freedom Movement party, was facing off against the right wing populist Janez Janša, a Donald Trump ally.

Polls suggested Janša’s Slovenian Democratic party had a narrow lead, though neither candidate appeared likely to secure a majority in the country’s 90-seat parliament.

In the months leading up to the elections, much of the focus has been on accusations of graft and access to public services, including healthcare. Questions of social policy have also threaded through the campaign, with campaigners accusing both Golob and Janša of scapegoating the country’s Romany minority.

Golob’s government was accused last year of treating Romany people as a security threat, while Janša, a three-time former prime minister, claimed they benefited from a double standard when it came to rights and equality.