Janez Janša

Ivan Janša (Slovene: [ˈíːʋan ˈjàːnʃa]; born 17 September 1958), better known as Janez Janša ([ˈjàːnɛs]), is a Slovenian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Slovenia since 2026, a position he previously held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013 and from 2020 to 2022. Since 1993, Janša has led the Slovenian Democratic Party, which has emerged as the pre-eminent Slovenian right-wing party.

Janša served as a minister of defence from 1990 to 1994, a post he had also held during the Slovenian War of Independence. He has also served as a prime minister from 2004 to 2008, and again became prime minister in 2012, following an early election in December 2011. On 27 February 2013, Janša's second government was ousted in a vote of non-confidence. In June 2013, Janša was sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges. The ruling was confirmed by Slovenia's higher court in April 2014, but after the Constitutional Court of Slovenia ordered a retrial for procedural reasons, the case later expired. Despite his party winning a plurality of votes in the 2018 Slovenian parliamentary election, Janša was initially passed over as a prime minister candidate as most parties refused to join a Janša-led government because of Janša's right wing views. After spending years in opposition, Janša was selected as prime minister-designate in March 2020 following the resignation of prime minister Marjan Šarec. His third term as a prime minister ended on 13 May 2022. After four years in opposition, the Slovenian Democratic Party finished second in the 2026 elections and formed the 16th government of the Republic of Slovenia together with center-right parties, with Janša becoming Prime Minister for the fourth time.