Europe | The turnaround

With a pro-Orban prime minister gone, things are looking up in Slovenia

A slide towards autocracy has stopped and the economy is roaring

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - JUNE 17: Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob (not seen) and European Council President Charles Michel (R) meet in Brussels, Belgium on June 17, 2022. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
|LJUBLJANA

“Karma is a bitch!” says Robert Golob, who assumed power as Slovenia’s new prime minster on June 1st. Slovenia’s greatest looming problem is reducing the country’s dependence on Russian gas and oil, and not many people in the country know more about energy than Mr Golob himself. With the news dominated by Ukraine, Slovenia’s election on April 24th failed to make much impression abroad. But the political demise of Janez Jansa, the former prime minister and an enthusiastic fan of Donald Trump and of Hungary’s Viktor Orban, marks an about-turn for the tiny country of 2.1m people.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The turnaround”

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