By: Dr Vinko Gorenak
On election night, Robert Golob marched into the headquarters of the Freedom Movement like a sun king and proclaimed a magnificent victory, one that never actually happened. A bluff, plain and simple. What followed were days in which he invited the trio around NSi, Anže Logar’s Democrats, and Zoran Stevanović’s Resni.ca into his coalition, of course without any programme or substance for a future coalition agreement. The NSi‑aligned trio told him clearly, they would not join the coalition, while Logar and Stevanović initially counted on forming a Golob‑led government. But not for long; once they realised, they were dealing with a bluff artist with no programme and no content, they walked away from the negotiations.
At this point, Golob’s supporters became worried, but Robert Golob reassured them that he would “safely steer the coalition ship into the harbour”. Even then, it was clear he resembled the captain of a sinking ship, calming the passengers by insisting everything was fine.
The following days were more or less predictable: in the National Assembly, a coalition began to take shape, SDS, the NSi‑aligned trio, Anže Logar’s Democrats, and Zoran Stevanović’s Resni.ca – the latter surprisingly being placed at the head of the National Assembly. When Golob realised he could not form a government, he declared Logar and Stevanović to be frauds, threw in the towel, and ceremoniously announced he would become the leader of the opposition. Personally, I do not believe that. He will flee the National Assembly as well.
But the constitution and the law oblige Golob to lead the current government and handle day‑to‑day affairs until a new government is appointed. He is not doing this at all.
On 23 and 24 April, an informal EU leaders’ summit took place in Cyprus. They discussed the EU’s financial framework for 2028–2034, the EU budget for that period. Golob excused himself in one of the parliamentary sessions, claiming he had international obligations. But he was not in Cyprus; Slovenia’s interests were supposedly represented by French President Macron. As a result, according to some reports, Slovenia will receive around 13 percent less funding than before, the largest reduction among all EU countries. Macron, of course, represented French interests, not ours.
And that is not all. On 28 and 29 April, Dubrovnik hosted the “Three Seas Initiative” summit with a business forum attended by 1,600 people, including the presidents of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Austria, as well as the U.S. Secretary of Energy. This shows the importance of the event. In Slovenia, however, we first witnessed bickering between President Nataša Pirc Musar and Golob’s office over who should even go to Dubrovnik. In the end, we were represented by the finance minister, a disgrace that reflects our leadership’s attitude toward the event.
And it continues. On 4 and 5 May, a bilateral EU–Armenia summit took place in Yerevan. All EU prime ministers attended except the German chancellor, and Slovenia had no representative at all. The event in Yerevan is of historic importance, as Armenia is the only Caucasus country maintaining a strategic partnership with the EU; Georgia has once again fallen under Russian influence. Golob’s absence is inexcusable and unacceptable.
Naturally, most citizens are asking where Golob was. There is no clear answer, at least not an official one. But speculation abounds: the “well‑informed” claim to have seen him on practically every Adriatic island, in Bali, in the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere. One reliable piece of information does exist: he was not in Karigador, as Karl Erjavec humorously announced on X after searching the entire area.
Jokes aside, it is obvious that Golob is vacationing here or there and not performing the duties required by the constitution and the law. This borders on grounds for constitutional impeachment. On the other hand, we are fortunate in one respect: if there is anything positive, it is that Golob will soon be heading for the dustbin of history.