EditSlovenian parliament lifts Golob’s immunity over alleged interference in police work
The former prime minister has consistently denied wrongdoing, calling the affair a political fight by a resentful former minister
Slovenia’s National Assembly on Wednesday voted not to grant parliamentary immunity to former prime minister Robert Golob, clearing the way for criminal proceedings to continue in the long-running “Bobnar case.” Seventy-five MPs in the 90-seat parliament, including Golob himself, supported the motion; none voted against. The vote took place without debate.
Golob, who leads the opposition Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda), enjoys procedural immunity as an MP. The Specialized State Prosecutor’s Office asked parliament for permission to proceed after Golob was elected to the assembly following the original request for a judicial investigation, filed in October 2025 with the Ljubljana District Court. The court has not yet ruled on that request.
Prosecutors suspect Golob, while serving as prime minister, committed the offence of giving gifts for illegal intermediation. The allegations concern claimed interference in the work of the police and involve former interior minister Tatjana Bobnar.
The Bobnar case dates to late 2022, shortly after Robert Golob became prime minister. Tatjana Bobnar, then interior minister, resigned after a few months and later told a parliamentary inquiry that Golob had pressed her to make personnel changes in the police, including the removal of officers associated with the previous Janez Janša government. She said her remaining in office was effectively tied to those changes. Two text messages Golob sent her in November 2022 – expressing “serious concern” about police staffing and dissatisfaction that an earlier agreement had not been implemented – became central evidence. Slovenia’s anti-corruption commission later found that the messages breached integrity rules because a prime minister has no direct authority over police personnel. Police filed a criminal complaint in 2024, and prosecutors in 2025 requested a judicial investigation on suspicion of giving gifts for illegal intermediation. Golob has consistently denied wrongdoing, calling the affair a political fight by a resentful former minister and saying the messages were ordinary political communication. Bobnar maintains she was asked to do something unlawful.
Golob had already written to parliament on Monday saying he would not invoke immunity and would vote to lift it himself, arguing he wanted the case resolved as quickly as possible. After the vote he described recent public attention as a “political farce” intended to divert attention. He said nothing new had emerged since last October and that the matter still rested on two SMS messages. The supposed “gift,” he added, was simply the trust a prime minister places in a minister.
Assembly Speaker Zoran Stevanović, leader of the Resni.ca party, widely described as pro-Russian, said the prosecutors had gathered sufficient evidence and called on Golob to resign, describing him as the only sitting MP facing criminal proceedings. Golob dismissed the resignation demand as “completely irrelevant” and accused Stevanović of staging a distraction.
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The article in Slovenian by EUalive’s partner Siol.net can be found here.
Caption: Robert Golob in Brussels, in his former capacity of PM, 19 March 2026 [Council Newsroom]
Updated: September 2, 2026 - 16:12
