Slovenia has elected a lawyer linked to former US first lady Melania Trump as its first-ever female head of state.
Natasa Pirc Musar is a journalist and lawyer who ran as an independent with the backing of Slovenia’s centre-left government, BBC reported.
She defeated former Foreign Minister Anze Logar — a veteran of conservative politics.
Pirc Musar won almost 54 per cent of the vote, ahead of Logar who got just over 46 per cent, the election commission said.
Turnout among the population of around two million was 49.9 per cent, the commission said, the BBC reported.
“Slovenia has elected a President who believes in the European Union, in the democratic values on which the EU was founded,” Pirc Musar said after her victory.
She noted that the world is “facing tough times because of climate change”. “Young people are now putting the responsibility on our political shoulders to take care of our planet so that our next generation, our children, will live in a healthy and clean environment,” she said.
The role of president is mostly ceremonial, but Pirc Musar will be commander in chief of the armed forces and also nominates several top officials, including the central bank governor, the report said.
