LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia’s parliament on Thursday gave approval for the new government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa, marking a turn to the right for the small European Union country.
Lawmakers backed the new government in a 49-30 vote in the 90-member assembly.
The vote came after parliamentary elections held in March that produced no clear winner. Former liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob’s Freedom Movement won most votes, but he was unable to muster a parliamentary majority.
Jansa, 67, who was appointed as prime minister last month, and his populist Slovenian Democratic Party formed a coalition government with other right-leaning groups in Parliament. The new government also has the backing of a nonestablishment Truth party that first emerged as an anti-vaccination movement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is Jansa's fourth term in office. The political veteran is an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump and was a close ally of former populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was defeated in a landslide election in April.
Like Orban, Jansa was staunchly anti-immigrant during the huge migration wave to Europe in 2015, and faced accusations of clamping down on democratic institutions and press freedoms during a previous term in 2020-2022. That led to protests at the time, and scrutiny from the European Union.
Jansa pledged his new government will be “for all of Slovenia and for all generations.” Speaking on Thursday, he said his 15-strong Cabinet had ”rich experience."
Jansa pledged to lower the taxes and complained that Slovenia had “an incredibly overblown bureaucracy" compared to other European countries He said he will call on opposition parties to work together on key issues in the future.
The new Cabinet includes Tone Kajzer, the former Slovenian ambassador to the U.S., who has been appointed as foreign minister, while Franci Matoz — who is Jansa'a former lawyer — was appointed as interior minister, which has prompted some public criticism.
Jansa, who is a supporter of Israel, has also been a stern critic of the Golob government’s 2024 recognition of a Palestinian state. The new government is expected to improve Slovenia's currently frosty relations with Israel.
The March 22 election was marred by allegations of foreign influence and corruption. The around 2 million people in the Alpine nation are deeply divided between liberals and conservatives.
Prime Minister Janes Jansa speaks before the Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Thursday, June 4, 2026, (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
Prime Minister Janes Jansa speaks before the Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Thursday, June 4, 2026, (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
Prime Minister Janes Jansa speaks before the Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Thursday, June 4, 2026, (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
Wall Street headed for its worst day in nearly eight months Friday as big technology companies lost ground and a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will be forced to hike interest rates at some point this year.
The S&P 500 was down 2.7% in late-afternoon trading, on pace for its first losing week in the last 10 and its biggest one-day drop since October, when the Trump administration threatened to impose a 100% tariff on imported goods from China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 773 points, or 1.5%, as of 3:18 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite slumped 4.4%.
Tech stocks dragged the broader market lower as companies that had powered the S&P 500 to a series of records the past two months saw losses. Nvidia fell 6.3%, Broadcom dropped 7.6% and Micron Technology slid 12.7%.
Shares in Meta fell 6% following a published report that the social media giant may seek to do a new stock offering to raise funds for spending on AI infrastructure.
Stocks within the S&P 500 were close to evenly split between gainers and losers. But, many of the bigger tech stocks have pricey values that tend to have an outsized influence on the broader market.
Meanwhile, bond yields jumped after a report showed the U.S. added a surprising 172,000 jobs in May, according to the Labor Department. It is the latest report showing that employment remains solid, despite the squeeze inflation is putting on businesses and consumers.
The latest reading on employment comes two weeks before Kevin Warsh heads his first policy meeting as chair of the Fed. Policymakers are widely expected to keep rates steady at the June 16-17 meeting despite pressure from President Donald Trump to lower borrowing costs. Longer-term, the market sees a better than 60% chance the Fed will push rates higher by the end of the year, according to CME FedWatch, and little to no chance of a cut.
“Any hopes of a Fed rate cut have effectively been eliminated with this morning’s strong jobs report,” said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard, in a research note.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.54% from 4.50% just before the report was released. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which more closely tracks the Fed’s actions, jumped to 4.16% from 4.04% just prior to the report.
The Fed has been holding interest rates steady as it tries to gauge the ongoing impact from rising inflation. Prices were already ticking higher from the impact of tariffs. The U.S. war with Iran has essentially blocked crude oil shipments from moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2% to settle at $93.09. It was about $70 per barrel before the war. The surge in oil prices prompted a jump in gasoline prices. That has fueled a broader rise in inflation as prices for anything being shipped move higher and threaten to slow economic growth.
A measure of inflation preferred by the Fed showed that prices rose 3.8% overall in April. That marked the biggest increase in two years.
Wall Street has been anticipating that negotiations to end the war will eventually be successful. American and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative deal last week to extend their ceasefire, but the agreement has not been finalized.
The latest round of corporate earnings is coming to a close. Lululemon slumped 8.5% after trimming its revenue and profit forecasts.
Most reports from companies have been surprisingly good and helped Wall Street on its record run. Encouraging profits and forecasts helped overshadow lingering worries about the direction of the economy amid tariffs and high energy costs because of the U.S. war with Iran.
With earnings now in the background, analysts have been warning that the tech companies benefiting from interest in artificial intelligence may have become too expensive. That could result in a slowdown for a market that has surged in 2026, with the S&P 500 up 7.7% for the year.
Markets were mixed in Europe after markets in Asia fell.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
A trio of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A screen shows South Korean companies's stock prices related to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is scheduled to visit South Korea at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
