Weeks after a tight election victory Slovenia’s Parliament accepted 45 year old Borut Pahor as the country’s new prime minister.

Slovenia, a former republic of Yugoslavia had shunned its communist past when it became a member of both the European Union and NATO.

Pahor’s party, the Social Democrats won the most votes in a September 21 elections, but not enough to claim a clear victory. Pahor later forged a coalition deal with three other parties to secure a majority in the parliament.

He replaces Janez Jansa, a center-right leader who governed this tiny Alpine country for four years.
The yesterday’s vote was 59-24, with the remaining deputies absent.

In his speech on Friday to the lawmakers he called for political cohesion in a time of economic uncertainty.

He told the assembly that this is not the time for such destructive divisions, and that “we need each other.”

Pahor said that he would work hard for the economic progress of Slovenia.

He’s expected to stick to Slovenia’s firm Western democratic standards and market economy.

Pahor graduated with degrees in political science and journalism and became a lawmaker in 1990. He also served as the parliamentary speaker from 2000-2004. After that, he became the representative of Slovenia in the European Parliament.

It is claimed by his supporters that he transformed the Social Democrats into a modern Leftist group, thereby increasing the party’s popularity