Natasa Pirc Musar becomes Slovenia's 1st female president
Natasa Pirc Musar—Slovenia's former Information Commissioner, journalist, and liberal lawyer who earlier represented former US first lady Melania Trump—was elected as the country's first female president on Sunday. She defeated former Foreign Minister Anze Logar in a runoff election, winning 54% of votes against her rival's 46%. Although both ran as independents, Musar and Logar were backed by the center-left and right-wing blocs, respectively.
Why does this story matter?
An eastern European country with a population of two million, Slovenia has been a European Union (EU) member for 15 years. Logar—a veteran conservative leader who was the foreign minister in the previous government—had won the first round of the polls last month but couldn't gain the required majority, resulting in a runoff election. However, the last few weeks indicated popular support for Musar.
Musar hailed EU, vowed to fight climate change
Following her victory, Musar (54) hailed the EU and its democratic values. She noted that climate change was a global challenge and that youngsters were holding political leaders accountable for saving the planet for the coming generations. While the president's position is mostly ceremonial, she will be commander in chief of the armed forces. The center-left party which supported her is currently in power.
Less than 50% voter turnout recorded
The country's election commission said the total voter turnout this time was 49.9%. Logar is reportedly an aide of former prime minister Janez Jansa—a right-wing populist leader who held the office three times and is a close ally of Hungary's far-right PM Viktor Orban. Robert Golob, who is known to be an advocate of environmentalism, succeeded Jansa as the PM in June this year.
Fought defamation case for Melania Trump
Melania Trump, the wife of former US President Donald Trump, was born in Slovenia and moved to the US in 1996. In 2016, Musar and Melania filed a defamation case against Suzy magazine in Slovenia for its claim that the latter worked as a high-end escort during her international modeling career, as per BBC. Both parties reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement.
