An accordion player is a familiar sight in Ljubljana’s Preseren Square, dressed in traditional costume and offering CDs labeled “Slovenian Music.” That simple image has been repurposed by the main opposition, the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which has plastered campaign posters showing a smiling boy with an accordion and the slogan: “Vote SDS, so your grandson will still sing Slovenian songs.”
Tone Kajzer, the SDS foreign policy spokesperson and a former diplomat, says the instrument embodies national identity. “As an Alpine country, the accordion is one of the basic instruments which gives us our identity,” he told DW, arguing the party wants Slovenians to see themselves “first, then Europeans.” The SDS campaign deliberately evokes an idealized past, implying life was better in the years after independence in 1991.
By contrast, the governing center-left Freedom Movement (GS) centers its campaign on one word: “Forward.” Secretary General Matej Grah frames the election as a choice between two visions: moving ahead or looking back. “These elections are about two different visions of Slovenia. Either we speak and work for the future or we turn back to history,” he said.
Voters face up to 18 candidate lists, and smaller parties could shape any post-election coalition. But the contest is effectively a clash between two figures: Prime Minister Robert Golob, leader of the Freedom Movement, and SDS leader Janez Janša, a three-time former prime minister. Grah calls it a battle for Slovenia’s soul — encompassing public services, the rule of law, sovereignty and the country’s liberal, social values.
The Freedom Movement has broken one long-standing pattern on the center-left: since Robert Golob’s surprise rise in 2022, his party actually served a full four-year term. Golob’s party won a record number of seats in 2022, and unlike before, the center-left has no fresh challenger to displace him. Broadcaster Igor Bergant notes the center-left has struggled to find a lasting figurehead since the death of former leader Janez Drnovšek in 2008.
Yet Golob faces criticism for promising sweeping reforms that many voters feel remain unrealized. Bergant says Golob told the public he needed two mandates — eight years — to deliver change, but after one term “his track record is not so good” and some voters are frustrated by perceived timidity on reform. The Freedom Movement counters that it has made progress on healthcare, housing and pensions and should be allowed to complete its program.
Health services are the dominant concern across leading parties, suggesting many voters do not yet feel tangible improvement. The campaign atmosphere has also been rocked by controversy in the final days before the vote. Leaked covert recordings allege corrupt practices among senior center-left figures. Golob has accused Janša of using a private Israeli intelligence firm and of undermining democracy through ties to foreign actors. The SDS claims the true issue is systemic corruption within the country.
How these allegations and competing narratives influence voters will be settled at the ballot box. By the end of the election, it should be clear whether Slovenians prefer Janša’s appeals to tradition and national roots or Golob’s progressive, forward-looking program. Edited by Aingeal Flanagan