Slovenia’s Intelligence Agency Confirms Foreign Interference in Recent Election

Slovenia's government announced Thursday that its intelligence service has definitively verified foreign interference in last weekend's parliamentary elections. The evidence has been turned over to law enforcement for investigation.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Slovenian officials announced Thursday that their national intelligence service has definitively verified outside interference in the parliamentary elections held over the weekend.

Following a National Security Council session, the government released a statement indicating that the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) “presented concrete activities of a foreign para-intelligence agency as well as contacts with Slovenian entities.”

“The evidence collected, both domestically and abroad, has in the meantime already been handed over to the competent law enforcement authorities, the prosecutor’s office, and the police,” the statement said.

Officials did not identify which foreign intelligence operation was involved in Thursday’s announcement.

Sunday’s election results showed no decisive victor. After tallying over 99% of ballots, Prime Minister Robert Golob’s liberal Freedom Movement secured 29 seats in the 90-seat parliament, barely ahead of the opposition right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) with 28 seats.

Campaign season was marked by online videos that appeared to capture covert recordings of government-connected individuals discussing their political influence. Activist groups and media professionals claimed these recordings were deliberately released to manipulate voter behavior, prompting an official investigation.

Intelligence reports allegedly connected the SDS party and an international private intelligence firm to these recordings. SDS head Janez Jansa has admitted to interactions with a consultant from the Black Cube private intelligence company while denying any misconduct.

National and international security secretary Vojko Volk revealed last week that Black Cube representatives made four visits to Slovenia over recent months, including to a street in Ljubljana where Jansa’s party maintains its offices.

Prime Minister Golob has called on the European Union to launch its own probe into the matter.

In an email response to the Associated Press, Black Cube stated that “Black Cube is an intelligence firm which provides services exclusively to clients engaged in business activities worldwide, supporting litigations, arbitrations and white-collar crime cases. Black Cube obtains legal advice in every jurisdiction in which it operates to ensure legality of its activities.”

“Corruption is a phenomenon that harms economies and impedes legitimate business activity. Black Cube will continue uncovering fraud, corruption and asset dissipation in all its cases globally as it has consistently done in the past 15 years,” the agency said.

In a March 20 statement, Slovenia’s government detailed how SOVA director Josko Kadivik provided “a full account of events that took place between 10 and 11 December 2025, along with material evidence of connections of three representatives of the private intelligence corporation Black Cube (Giora Eiland, Liron Tzur and Dan Zorella) to the visit at Trstenjakova ulica 8 in Ljubljana, where the SDS party has its headquarters.”

Kadivik also “presented findings regarding Black Cube’s activities in the territory of Slovenia and abroad, which likewise demonstrate counterintelligence operations against the Republic of Slovenia and foreign interference in Slovenian elections,” according to the statement.