Slovenia

The parliamentary election of 22 March 2026 was close: Prime Minister Robert Golob’s Freedom Movement (Svoboda) won 28.66 per cent of the vote and 29 of the 90 seats, against 27.88 per cent and 28 seats for the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). The National Assembly nevertheless elected Janez Janša prime minister on 22 May and approved his government on 4 June by 49 votes to 30. The coalition comprises SDS, the Democrats and the joint list of NSi, SLS and Fokus, with Resni.ca and the national-minority deputies supporting it from outside.

At the majority state-owned Telekom Slovenije, the supervisory board appointed Cvetko Sršen, who had led the company from March 2021 to October 2022 under Janša’s previous government, President of the Management Board from 1 October 2026.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Slovenia 36th of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index with a score of 72.88, against 33rd and 74.06 in 2025, while the political indicator fell from 27th to 30th. The assessment predates the change of government.

The European Commission’s rule of law country chapter of 17 July 2026 notes that the new Media Act, in force since 27 September 2025, was adopted with a view to alignment with the European Media Freedom Act and provides for a new database disclosing direct, indirect and beneficial media ownership. The media market remains concentrated. An Anti-SLAPP Act was adopted in January 2026, and the Commission found limited further progress on ensuring adequate and independent public-service media funding.

Draft amendments to the Media Act published on 26 August 2026 would delete the provisions on influencers, remove the fixed minimum for funding public-interest programme content, abolish some forms of state aid to media, and move the assessment of media concentrations to the regulator AKOS. Press-freedom organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response urged parliament on 6 October to pause the reform and asked the European Commission to assess its compatibility with the European Media Freedom Act.

In a binding referendum on 11 October 2026, voters provisionally rejected amendments to the Parliamentary Inquiry Act, with 51.26 per cent opposing the legislation after 99.97 per cent of ballots had been counted. Reporters Without Borders had warned that the amendments, adopted in May, would weaken safeguards protecting journalists’ confidential sources by removing advance constitutional review of parliamentary inquiries.

State Media Monitor maps three Slovenian outlets: Radiotelevizija Slovenija, Independent Public (IP); the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), Independent State Funded and State Managed (ISFM); and the news portal Siol.net, Independent State Managed/Owned (ISM).

RTV Slovenija has been classified IP since the 2023 review cycle, after a 2022 reform gave employees and civil-society institutions the main role in appointing its 17-member Council. The Constitutional Court upheld the principal provisions of the reform in a judgment dated 2 July 2026 and made public on 24 July, although it annulled one provision concerning the early dismissal of Council members. The August draft would restore a single Director-General appointed by a seven-member Supervisory Board, six of whose members the government would appoint, and end serving mandates when the law took effect. The broadcaster had received none of the EUR 7.76 million in statutory state funding due for the first half of 2026 by 30 June. According to provisional results available on the morning of 12 October, following the advisory referendum held on 11 October on abolishing the compulsory RTV contribution, 461,765 voters (50.04 per cent) opposed abolition and 461,073 (49.96 per cent) supported it with 99.98 per cent of ballots counted; votes from abroad were to be added on 19 October.

The wholly state-owned STA, classified State-Controlled in 2022 after Janša’s previous government halted its public-service payments for 312 days in 2021, has been ISFM since the 2023 review cycle. A new STA Act adopted on 3 February 2026 bars the founder from influencing editorial decisions and introduces net-cost funding

Siol.net, published by a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekom Slovenije, has been classified ISM since the 2023 review cycle, following content analyses that found improved editorial balance after 2022. Peter Jančič, its Editor-in-Chief from 2020 to 2022, returned to the post on 1 July 2026. No comparable assessment of its coverage since then was available for this update.

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