Slovenia

President Prime Minister	Borut Pahor (Independent, since December 2012) Janez Janša (Slovenian Democratic Party, since March 2020)
Population	2,080,908 (2019)
Size	20,273 km² (7,827 sq. miles)
MEPs	8 (joined the EU in 2004)
Next presidential election Next legislative election	2022 2022
Presidency of the Council	July – December 2021
Last meeting with Boris Johnson	None held to date
Brexit priorities	Slovenia wants a unified and coherent European approach throughout the Brexit negotiations. The country will keep a particular eye on the impact of Brexit on the EU’s budget as Slovenia is a net recipient of EU funds and the UK is a large contributor. Making sure the UK pays a financial bill which reflects its commitments will be Slovenia’s biggest priority.
What Prime Minister Šarec said on Brexit	“In my opinion there shouldn’t be any Brexit, but if there is one we must make an agreement that will satisfy all of us — well, nobody will be satisfied, but (it’s important) we achieve a compromise.” “Theresa May arrives each time to explain things while she brings nothing new to put on the table”
Slovenia’s priorities	In June 2018, Slovenia held parliamentary elections, which resulted in a fragmented parliament. The anti-immigration Slovenia Democratic Party (SDS) obtained the most votes though struggled to pull together a government due to its hard stance on immigraiton.The List of Marjan Sarec (LMS), centre-left, came in second place with 12.6% of the votes. Former PM Cerar’s Party of the Modern Centre came in fourth place. Mr Sarec is now leading a coalition with the Social Democrats, the Modern Centre Party, Desus and the namesake party. Slovenia’s priorities are to get the budget deficit within EU limits and to get the country’s finances back in order following the euro-zone crisis in which Slovenia narrowly avoided a bail-out. The government agreed to sell a 75% stake in Slovenia’s largest state-owned bank. It will also address pension reforms and aims to manage an increase in immigration. In terms of foreign affairs, the government aims to improve relations with the European Union, and play an active role in, among others, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Council of Europe.