MEP leads in Slovenian elections

Former Slovenian prime minister, Alojz Peterle, has taken a lead in the country’s first-round presidential elections over the weekend.

Peterle, an EPP MEP, topped a ballot of seven to take 28 per cent of the vote and is likely to face Danilo Tuerk, a law professor and former Slovenian ambassador to the UN, in a November 11 run-off. Turnout on Sunday was estimated at around 58 per cent.

In a recent interview with the Parliament Magazine, he said: “Five years ago I refused to stand as president because I believed I needed to have more European experience. Now that my bid is stronger, I have that European experience.”

The election comes just two months before Slovenia assumes the presidency of the EU in January 2008 and, according to Peterle, one of the key issues on the country’s EU presidency agenda will be Europe’s relationship with the Western Balkans, especially Croatia’s entry to the EU.

Peterle was Slovenia’s first prime minister after the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, and has also worked for the OECD and on the European convention.

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