The liberal Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda) declared an extremely tight victory over the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) after the parliamentary election on Sunday, March 22. The outcome announces a tense period of building the necessary parliamentary majority and follows a campaign marked by reports of Israeli interference linked to the SDS, led by former prime minister and far-right figure Janez Janša.

Read more: Antifascism is anti-militarism: socialist industrial legacy at risk of becoming motor of EU armament

While full results are expected to be confirmed in early April, the Freedom Movement has secured 28.6% of the vote and will likely have 29 representatives in parliament. The SDS obtained around 28% and would have only one parliamentarian less. In this situation, negotiations with smaller parties – including the progressive alliance Levica-Vesna, which expects five representatives – will prove decisive. Robert Golob, seeking a second mandate as prime minister, has already signaled his party is open to talks with everyone except the SDS.

Israeli mercenary spy plot?

Even more than the tight result, the election was marked by SDS attempts to smear opponents, just as they had tried on previous occasions. The strategy was unmasked as investigative journalists and activists warned Janša’s party – and notably Janša himself – had colluded with Israeli mercenary spy company Black Cube to influence the electoral process. This echoes reports of the company intervening to uphold Viktor Orbán’s position in Hungary, a politician with whom Janša shares close affiliations.

“Black Cube’s operations follow a well-established set of tools and methods that the company has already used in other countries,” Prime Minister Golob wrote in a letter to the presidents of the European Commission and European Council. “Individuals are recruited through false profiles … Information is gathered by operatives using false identities. They organize face-to-face meetings in public spaces, hotels, and restaurants abroad.”

“Black Cube is known for their smear campaigns with one end: to undermine the trust of the citizens in the democratic processes by releasing falsified corruption allegations at precisely planned times, in this case, just before the general elections.”

Soon after the initial revelations were published, Slovenian security agencies confirmed visits by individuals with links to Black Cube over the past six months, including near SDS headquarters in Ljubljana. One individual was identified as Giora Eiland, whom the progressive weekly Mladina described as “one of the authors of the forced relocation of Palestinians from northern Gaza, including the interruption of food and water supplies.”

Read more: Activists urge continued mobilization to ensure Slovenia’s arms embargo on Israel

These accounts not only undermined Janša’s narrative of the right acting in the interest of Slovenia’s sovereignty but possibly also opened the way for a different discussion about interference in election processes – accusations which European governments usually reserve for Russia.

From Slovenia’s case, however, it appears Israeli actors might be intervening in EU countries to minimize administrations unfriendly to the occupation power. Considering that operations conducted by Black Cube are extremely costly, Levica also warned this was unlikely to have happened without financial support “by someone with a very strong political interest in bringing about a change of government in Slovenia.”

Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Slovenia has been one of the few European countries – along with Spain and Ireland – to denounce international law infringements and crimes committed against Palestinians. There is little doubt this stance would drastically change under an SDS government, considering Janez Janša’s previous mandate invested great efforts in building a relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The post Liberal Freedom Movement narrowly wins Slovenia election appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.