Prime Minister Robert Golob informs the President of the European Commission of foreign interference in Slovenia's elections in a letter

Prime Minister Robert Golob | Author Nebojša Tejič, STA

Dear Madam President,

With this letter, I aim to bring to your attention, and that of the Commission, alarming information regarding what appears to constitute a grave instance of foreign information manipulation and interference currently unfolding in the Republic of Slovenia. Recent media reports informed the public of a private Israeli intelligence company Black Cube engaging in "mercenary surveillance" as a part of a coordinated operation to manipulate the Slovenian electoral processes by targeting political figures via illegal surveillance and so-called "smear" operations. Such interference by a foreign private company poses a clear hybrid threat against the European Union and its Member States, which negatively impacts or potentially threatens our common values, procedures and political processes.

These media reports have been mostly confirmed by the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency, which informed the National Security Council Secretariat, that the representatives of the company Black Cube from Israel have visited Slovenia four times in the last six months. Black Cube's operations follow a well-established set of tools and methods that the company has already used in other countries. Individuals are recruited through fake profiles, typically on the LinkedIn network. Information is gathered by operatives using false identities. They organize face-to-face meetings in public spaces, hotels, and restaurants abroad. As soon as they have achieved their objective, the fake companies' websites are deleted and the phones used for communication are deactivated. Identities of these operatives, that visited Slovenia, were later confirmed by targeted individuals that were exposed as part of this illegal operation.

Black Cube is known for their smear campaigns with one goal: to undermine the trust of the citizens in the democratic processes by releasing falsified corruption allegations at precisely planned times, in this case, just before the general elections. These activities pose a threat to national security and influence democratic elections.

H.E. Ms Ursula von der Leyen

President of the European Commission

Copy:

H.E. Mr António Costa, President of the European Council

It is troubling that such a pattern of coordinated deceptive behavior by a foreign non-state actor again occurred just days before the national parliamentary elections, thus presenting systemic risks to Slovenia's democratic processes. Such threats are not an isolated event, as seen by European Council conclusions from 18 December 2025, in which we have recalled the importance of strengthening Europe's democratic resilience and strongly condemned all recent hybrid attacks against the European Union and its Member States, while further calling for accelerated efforts to strengthen resilience and prevent, deter and respond to hybrid attacks throughout the Union, using all relevant policies and instruments.

Bearing in mind that Black Cube has performed nearly identical operations in Hungary (2018/2022) and to target EU Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi in Romania (2016), it is clear the European Union cannot address this "hybrid threat" in isolation. 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. 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.

That said, I urge the Commission to investigate the reports and refer the matter to the European Centre for Democratic Resilience for an immediate threat assessment.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Golob