Slovenia’s new parliament speaker claims he’s not pro-Russian, plans Moscow visit, promises referendum on NATO exit
Slovenia's new parliament speaker, Zoran Stevanović, plans to visit Moscow and hold a referendum on NATO's exit, RTV Slovenija (RTV SLO) reported. His Resni.ca party holds five of the National Assembly's 90 seats but won the speakership with 48 cross-party votes. The announcements came on 13 April, one day after Hungarian voters removed pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a landslide.
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Slovenia held parliamentary elections on 22 March 2026. PM Robert Golob's Freedom Movement won a narrow plurality over Janez Janša's SDS — 29 seats to 28 — but neither bloc secured a governing majority, producing a deadlock.
Stevanović confirmed the Moscow plan in a 13 April interview with Slovenian public broadcaster Radio Prvi. He said he wants to build bridges with all countries, regardless of the "wall built between West and East."
"I plan in the near future to also visit Moscow," he said.
He also confirmed Resni.ca's pre-election promise on NATO.
"We promised the people a referendum on NATO exit and we will conduct it," he said.
Slovenia joined NATO in 2004 after 66% of voters backed membership in a referendum. It has since maintained a consistently pro-Western foreign policy.
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Stevanović also stated earlier that "the policy of sanctions against Russia turned out to be an own goal of the European Union."
"No pro-Russian views — only pro-Slovenian ones"
Despite his evidently pro-Russian stance, Stevanović rejected the label outright.
"I have no pro-Russian views, only pro-Slovenian ones," he claimed. "We maintain that Slovenia must conduct its policy independently, sovereignly." He added that Slovenia would "absolutely oppose interference in foreign military and diplomatic disputes."
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Stevanović's background
Stevanović built his political following during the COVID-19 protests against government restrictions. Resni.ca is a right-wing populist, eurosceptic, anti-vaccine party. It holds the smallest faction in Slovenia's parliament.
Stevanović rules out leaving the EU, saying Slovenia benefits from membership. He holds a prior criminal conviction for attempted insurance fraud. A court fined him 800 EUR for the offense. He was around 20 at the time, approximately 25 years ago.
