Lawyer Natasa Pirc Musar, the country’s first female president

This is a first for a woman in Slovenia. The country elected a renowned lawyer new to politics, Natasa Pirc Musar, as president on Sunday. She will be officially sworn in on December 23.

The 54-year-old independent candidate, who in the past represented the interests of former American First Lady Melania Trump, of Slovenian origin, collected nearly 54% of the voting intentions, according to the results published by the Electoral Commission. She clearly distances her conservative rival Anze Logar (46%), former Minister of Foreign Affairs and winner of the first round on October 23.

Turn the page on “disputes”

In a country divided after the protest-strewn term of ex-Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Natasa Pirc Musar called for “unity” and turning the page on “disputes”. “My first action will be to invite all the leaders of the political parties to the presidential palace,” she declared Sunday evening in front of hundreds of supporters gathered around the capital Ljubljana.

After the tensions of the Jansa era with Brussels, she also insisted on her confidence “in the European Union and the democratic values ​​on which it was founded”. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen immediately hailed this victory. “As the first woman elected to the presidency, you are paving the way for future generations,” she tweeted.

Natasa Pirc Musar wants to embody “a moral authority”

The Slovenians turned out in relatively large numbers at the polls, with a turnout higher than that of the first round (53%), in this country of 2 million inhabitants, from the former Yugoslavia and member of the EU since 2004.

During the campaign, Natasa Pirc Musar, who defines herself as “liberal”, put forward her desire to give more substance to this essentially ceremonial position. “The president cannot be neutral, he must have an opinion”, be “a moral authority”, she underlined in the between-two rounds. Outgoing head of state Borut Pahor, who could not stand for re-election after two five-year terms, has often been criticized for his passive attitude towards Janez Jansa.

A former television presenter, Natasa Pirc Musar made a name for herself by directing the Slovenian Data Protection Authority in the 2000s. A tireless defender of the political class, she opened her law firm in 2016, regularly scouring TV sets as an expert. Passionate about motorcycles, she has been the target of attacks because of her husband’s lucrative investment activities, especially in tax havens.