Slovenia goes to the polls Sunday in an election pitting the liberal Golob against right-wing populist Janez Janša, who currently has a narrow lead according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls.
Leaked audio and video recordings, published earlier this month and apparently designed to tie Golob’s government to corruption, showed prominent Slovenian figures apparently discussing illegal lobbying and the misuse of state funds.
Slovenian authorities this week announced that four operatives of Black Cube, a private intelligence firm founded by former members of the Israel Defense Forces, had visited the country and conducted “illegal surveillance” and “wiretapping.”
Representatives for Black Cube did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
In his letter, Golob pointed to previous operations carried out by Black Cube, including in Romania and Hungary in the last decade, to highlight its ongoing interference.
“Given the continuous, systemic operations performed by Black Cube and the recent reported operations, they pose a direct challenge to the newly established European Democracy Shield,” Golob said. “As the European Centre for Democratic Resilience began its operational work in February 2026, this case provides a critical test of its mandate to protect Member States against foreign interference.”
“I urge the Commission to investigate the reports and refer the matter to the European Centre for Democratic Resilience for an immediate threat assessment,” he added.
The European Democracy Shield is an EU initiative aimed at protecting member countries from foreign interference and hybrid threats by strengthening monitoring, coordination and rapid response to disinformation and covert influence operations.