LJUBLJANA, March 23, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Slovenia's incumbent liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob claimed victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday, as results put his party just slightly ahead of the conservatives.

Golob took over from Donald Trump admirer Janez Jansa as a political newcomer in 2022, leading a three-party centre-left coalition in the country of two million people.

The race was expected to be tight, and foreign interference claims shook the campaign, with authorities probing whether an Israeli company was behind secretly recorded videos suggesting alleged graft in Golob's government.

With 99.85 percent of the votes counted, Golob's liberal party stood at 28.62 percent and the conservatives of veteran politician Jansa at 27.95 percent.

The results put Golob's party on 29 seats compared to 28 for Jansa, in the 90-seat parliament.

"Since we have received the (people's) confidence, now we can think about going forward under a free sun," Golob, 59, told cheering supporters at his party's headquarters.

He hailed a vote for "democracy" in the EU member nation, promising to "do everything to grant a better future to all citizens in our next mandate".

"We face tough negotiations but we will not negotiate about our sovereignty. We will not let foreigners decide about our sovereignty," he said, adding he would invite all parties to coalition talks.

- 'Count every vote' -

Three-time premier Jansa -- an ally of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- described the vote as a "referendum on corruption" in reference to the videos.

"We will count every vote from all polling stations," Jansa, 67, warned, but also said earlier that he would not form a "weak government".

The rest of the vote is shared around a disparate mosaic of smaller parties, so that analysts predict it will be difficult to form a stable government.

An anti-establishment party and a conservative party formed by a former Jansa ally have managed to enter parliament, fragmenting it further.

Under Golob, Slovenia legalised same-sex marriage and became one of the few EU countries to describe Israel's war in Gaza as "genocide"