The populist leader returns for his fourth stint as prime minister.
Slovenia’s National Assembly on Friday handed nationalist politician Janez Janša his fourth term as prime minister.
Earlier this week, Janša announced that his Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) had formed a coalition with several right-wing parties in the Assembly, clearing a path to Slovenia’s top job. Janša was backed by 51 out of 87 deputies who voted in the National Assembly on Friday.
The return of Janša, an longtime admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump, gives right-wing populism a new foothold in Europe, after Viktor Orbán was ousted in last month’s Hungarian election.
Janša narrowly lost the Slovenian election in March to liberal candidate Robert Golob, who subsequently failed to form a government and resigned himself to leading Slovenia’s opposition.
“Others have tried to form a majority coalition, but they have failed. We approached it differently, on a programmatic basis, step by step,” Janša said Friday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Janša on his return to power, saying she looked forward to “our cooperation to tackle our common challenges.”