The EU’s fightback against right-wing populism starts here

 

The EU’s fightback against right-wing populism starts here

 

Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob tells POLITICO that his right-wing election rival Janez Janša wants to break up the European Union. 

 

March 8, 2026 6:00 pm CET

By Ali Walker

https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-fightback-right-wing-populism-slovenia-hungary-election/

 

LJUBLJANA — Don’t just focus on Hungary's election, Slovenia really matters too.

 

Prime Minister Robert Golob underlined the high stakes facing Europe during an interview with POLITICO ahead of two critical votes. First, in Slovenia on March 22, where Golob’s left-liberal coalition is straining to fend off a confrontational right-wing contender; then, in Hungary on April 12, where an anti-corruption candidate is on track to oust longtime nationalist leader Viktor Orbán.

 

“It's not about Slovenia alone. It's both countries. If we were able to win the two, I think that would be really, absolutely the best positive sign for the European Union,” Golob said at his office on the industrial outskirts of Ljubljana, looking out toward snow-capped mountains.

 

Golob framed the twin elections as an opportunity for pro-European forces to bludgeon the continent’s ascendant populist movement. That includes his right-wing rival — former three-time premier Janez Janša — whom Golob portrays as a threat to the EU itself.

 

Janša’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) currently leads the race in Slovenia, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls, but Golob’s Freedom Movement and his liberal-left coalition can still hang on to power by teaming up against him.

 

A former energy entrepreneur and Yugoslav national white-water kayaker, Golob delivered a withering broadside at both Janša and Orbán during a near hour-long interview conducted last month.

 

“You need to understand that in the European Council, for many years, Orbán was alone. If Janša gets to win, then the Council will start fragmenting even more,” Golob said, as he outlined a key difference between various members of the bloc’s Central European awkward squad.

 

Alliances in the European Council are crucial. Even though he hails from a country with a population of only 2.1 million, Janša would be a highly effective ally to Orbán by preventing the other EU member countries from ganging up to strip Budapest of its EU voting rights via the bloc's Article 7 procedure.

 

“We need to understand that Janša is the closest ally to Viktor Orbán that Orbán will ever get,” Golob warned. “The other two prime ministers [Czechia’s Andrej Babiš and Slovakia’s Robert Fico], yes, they are sort of sovereigntist in the way how they behave, but they're not his allies.

 

“So they do share similar views, but there is one major difference. Orbán is doing everything he can to break up the European Union. The other two, no. And Janša will be totally on Orbán's side … meaning the two of them will try to break up the European Union itself. That's really the danger or the battle that we are now in,” Golob added ahead of the vote in Slovenia.

 

Golob accused Janša’s previous governments of weaponizing law enforcement, trampling on the rule of law, curtailing civil rights — and even foreshadowing the second Trump administration in the U.S. with “brutal” policing. Representatives for the SDS did not reply to multiple requests for a response.

 

“I think if we can help hold back the far-right populists in both countries, that would be a huge win for Europe,” Golob exhaled.

 

 

Scream if you wanna go faster

As the bloc struggles to challenge American and Chinese industrial might, Golob admitted his business background — he founded an energy trading company — has imbued him with a sense of deep frustration over the slow pace of EU decision-making.

 

“There are many who understand that we need to do things fast, but unfortunately, we are not capable of doing anything fast yet,” he said.

 

That's why Golob is supportive of a multi-speed EU. “So the ideas of putting together a group, a voluntary group, of states who want to proceed faster: I think that, at the moment, unless something changes in Hungary, it could be really the only way to proceed. And we are very much in favor of that,” he added, pointing out that different groups of nations could forge ahead depending on the subject.  

 

Golob, whose Freedom Movement belongs to the Renew Europe group in Brussels, has a Macronist message about boosting European industry. The continent must be “more aggressive,” he said, in its quest to build sovereign technologies — “strategic autonomy,” to use the French president’s parlance.

 

For Golob, that broader autonomy should be underpinned by five distinct pillars: a deeper capital markets union; an energy union; tech sovereignty, with a focus on AI; common European defense; and independent capacity and communications in space.

 

“Whoever is willing to go on a faster pace, come on, let's get together and let's do it on a fast pace. Unless we do that, we will never be able to catch up with China and the United States. Absolutely no way,” he said.

 

“Yes, there are some countries, including Slovenia, where we want to implement European sovereign solutions,” Golob added. “And we want really badly to do that. We don't want to rely on Google or Meta to do the job for us, because then we will never again be competitive on a global basis.”

 

Golob described a personal trip he took to China last year as confirming his suspicions about just how far behind Europe trailed on advanced technology; but he is heartened by an apparent willingness among European nations — he highlighted the Benelux and Nordic countries, among others — to fight back fast.

 

“Germany and France — well, they do have their own differences, obviously — but both of them understand the need and necessity for this. That's good news. I even see there's a lot of common understanding for that outside the EU, like the U.K., on a strategic level. Even some others, like Canada. So that's also good news,” Golob said.

 

“There are some countries in Europe who want to lag behind. Well, let them do that,” he shrugged.

 

Weapons-grade inadequacy

On the key foreign policy questions facing Europe in 2026, Golob said that the continent should work harder to drag Russia to the negotiating table over Ukraine — while being smarter about how it rearms itself in preparation for a potential attack by the Kremlin.

 

“I personally believe that the frozen assets are our best bargaining chip that we have as Europe. Now that we do have these assets frozen, we can use them to negotiate peace. If we would deploy them, we would lose the chip. Then there is nothing we can bring at the negotiation table with Putin,” he said.

 

The Slovenian prime minister is also unconvinced that Europe’s defense strategy is adequately preparing for a future conflict.

 

“Traditional armament industries want to sell their already developed products and those products are very expensive, the stocks went up — but they are not effective on the battlefield of the future,” Golob said, pointing to the success that both Ukraine and Russia have had using cheap weapons, like first-person view drones, in the war-ravaged Donbas.

 

“I think it was not put into the weapon procurement strategies yet. We are discussing it, we are discussing even at the European level, EUCO level, but I'm not sure that really trickled down to national armament strategies yet,” he said.

 

Golob highlighted space — one of his five pillars — as a more expensive, sophisticated area where Europe must become sovereign to fight a looming war or tackle industrial challenges.

 

“Unless we do that, there is no way we can compete with anyone on a global scale,” he said. “We do have technical capability, but we didn’t really scale it up yet. On the other hand, apart from this one costly technology, the war is all about low-cost technology. Who will produce more of the low-cost weapons?”

 

The interview was conducted days before the U.S. and Israel began a barrage of strikes against Iran, kicking off a wider regional conflict in which Tehran has fired missiles and drones at countries across the Gulf, sparking urgent evacuations.

 

In a statement Saturday night, Golob — who was one of the EU's most outspoken critics of Israel's war in Gaza — praised Jordan and Gulf allies for helping Slovenia complete the evacuation of its citizens from the region.

 

He also thanked Slovenian staff in Ljubljana and across the Middle East for "extraordinary dedication, responsibility, and superhuman efforts" to bring people home.