Marta Kos

BRUSSELS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has arrived in Brussels for a working luncheon to be hosted for Western Balkan leaders by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday.

Vucic is also due to have a separate meeting with European Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.

Ekaterina Zaharieva is identified as one of the five European Commissioner nominees facing significant scrutiny, according to Politico. Zaharieva, recently nominated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the role of Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, is under particular scrutiny.

Ljubljana, 23 October – Anže Logar, the conservative former foreign minister, won 34% of the vote in Sunday’s presidential election in Slovenia and will face lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar in the 13 November run-off after she picked 27%. Being limited to two terms, incumbent Borut Pahor could not run again.

After a campaign that saw many twists and turns, Slovenians will head to the polls on Sunday to cast their vote in the presidential election although the country’s fifth president is not expected to be elected until the run-off on 13 November.

Ljubljana – There is no good reason why MEP Milan Brglez should not receive joint coalition support and why citizens should not see proof of the political maturity of people running the country, says Delo in Saturday’s front-page commentary.

Ljubljana – MEP Milan Brglez (S&D/SD) has expressed the willingness to run for president, the junior coalition Social Democrats (SD) told the STA on Wednesday, expressing the wish that he be supported by the entire coalition. The SD presidency is expected to formally nominate him tomorrow afternoon.

Ljubljana – The Left, the smallest of the three parties in the government, has decided to field its own candidate for the 23 October presidential election. This will most likely make the Left the only coalition party with own candidate after Marta Kos of the ruling Freedom Movement has pulled out and the SocDems have not picked one.

Ljubljana – Lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar has increased her lead in the presidential race after the ruling party’s candidate Marta Kos pulled out, a poll run by the newspaper Delo on Saturday suggests. Pirc Musar gained five percentage points in a fortnight to 31% as Anže Logar, the former foreign minister, stayed at 23%.

Ljubljana – Commenting on Freedom Movement candidate Marta Kos withdrawing from the presidential race, the weekly Mladina suggests the party’s campaign was ill-timed, warning that small defeats had also done in former prime ministers Marjan Šarec and Miro Cerar.

Ljubljana – The Freedom Movement has decided not to pick an alternative candidate after the ruling party’s vice-leader Marta Kos quit the presidential race. Party leader, Prime Minister Robert Golob announced on Wednesday that the party council would decide in a fortnight which of the other candidates to endorse.