Three weeks after elections, Slovenia got the answer to the question all of Europe was waiting for: Janez Jansa is returning to power - for the fourth time. The SDS leader, whom many consider the Balkans' Orban, is one step from forming a government with a coalition that includes a parliament speaker planning a NATO exit referendum and a visit to Moscow.

How did it come to this? Democratic Party leader Anzhe Logar - former foreign minister under Jansa and a longtime SDS member who left the party two years ago - broke off negotiations with PM Robert Golob's Freedom Movement. The reason? Golob allegedly tried to "impose a coalition agreement." Freedom Movement responded that negotiations never actually took place.

"We sent Logar invitations and proposals but received no response. Despite this, they created a public impression that talks were ongoing. That simply isn't true," Golob's party stated.

Jansa's coalition: from the right to NATO-skeptics

With NSi's support (8 seats), the Democrats (6 seats), and Resnica (5 seats), Jansa commands over 46 parliamentary seats needed for a majority. And Resnica is the party whose leader Zoran Stevanovic - a former police officer known for anti-vaccine activism and climate change denial - was elected parliament speaker with this very coalition's votes.

The same Stevanovic who declared before a notary that his party would never cooperate with SDS or Jansa. The same one who, immediately after being elected, gave an exclusive Sputnik interview and confirmed plans for a NATO exit referendum and a Moscow visit to "build bridges between East and West." He would be the first EU member state parliament speaker to visit Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The president: "46 votes - and the mandate is yours"

Everything depends on President Natasha Pirc Musar, who begins consultations from April 20. Her condition is clear: "Whoever brings me 46 votes gets the mandate." But she added another caveat - she won't grant a mandate to anyone who attempted to influence Slovenian elections through foreign actors, a direct reference to the Black Cube Israeli private intelligence firm affair.

According to Delo journalist Uros Esih, Jansa has already distributed ministerial positions: 8 for SDS, 5 for NSi, 3 for Democrats, while Resnica stays outside government with external support.

Election results were nearly identical: Freedom Movement got 28.62%, SDS 27.95% - a one-seat difference. But that minimal gap is turning into a maximum course change. Europe gets another government where a coalition partner talks about a NATO referendum and visiting Putin. Will Brussels react, or once again wait until it's too late?