(Bloomberg) -- Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said he’ll fight a criminal complaint filed against him by his former interior minister, who alleges that the premier illegally meddled in a police overhaul at the start of his term.
Golob denied any wrongdoing while speaking to journalists in Ljubljana on Wednesday, saying that he would press on with his duties as prime minister.
The former minister, Tatjana Bobnar, resigned in December 2022, accusing Golob — whose government had taken office half a year earlier — of exerting political pressure by demanding personnel changes in Slovenia’s police force. Prosecutors confirmed they received the criminal complaint, public broadcaster RTVSLO reported on Tuesday.
Golob’s Freedom Movement promised to shake up a police force with members still tied to his predecessor as premier, Janez Jansa, whom he accused of overseeing a heavy-handed security policy. The former populist prime minister had had made sweeping changes to state institutions, including the police, during the Covid pandemic.
After leaving the government, Bobnar went on to serve as an adviser to Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, a political rival of Golob.
“It’s in reality not about any interference in the work of the police, but about a political struggle,” Golob told reporters in Ljubljana before flying to a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Wednesday.
The procedure is in early stages and the decision on how to move forward lies with the prosecution, which can either dismiss the complaint or start an investigation that could lead to a court fight. Such a scenario would be a further blow to Golob, who has seen his popularity slide amid criticism he’s stumbled on pledges to reform.
(Updates with police-shakeup detail, background from fourth paragraph.)
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