"BACK TO FREEDOM":

Less than three months ago, former power company head Robert Golob did not have a party to contest elections.

Today, he looks set to become the next prime minister of Slovenia after a small Green party he took over garnered more than a third of votes in Sunday's parliamentary elections and delivered Europe's latest rebuke of right-wing populists. [...]

Golob has promised to restore "normality", having billed the elections as a "referendum on democracy".

In Jansa's latest stint in office, tens of thousands of protesters have staged regular rallies, accusing the three-time premier of using the pandemic to attack media freedom and the judiciary and to undermine the rule of law.

An ally of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and admirer of US ex-president Donald Trump, Jansa has also clashed with Brussels over media freedom and rule-of-law issues.

Golob has told AFP that he wants the country to "return" to being "West-orientated".

Tweet   @brothersjudd