SLOVENIA:Left-leaning diplomat Danilo Turk was poised to become Slovenia's new president last night, after election exit polls placed him far ahead of his government-backed opponent.
The polls suggested that Mr Turk, who was Slovenia's long-time ambassador to the United Nations, took some 70 per cent of votes against 30 per cent for Lojze Peterle, a conservative former prime minister.
If his election victory is confirmed, Mr Turk (55) will be sworn in just days before Slovenia takes over the presidency of the European Union in January, the first former communist country to do so and a sign of its political and economic stability.
"I'm very happy with the results as they appear now," Mr Turk said last night. "I want to be a president who is uniting people." Mr Peterle has already conceded defeat.
Slovenia's president has authority only in some matters of defence and foreign affairs, but Mr Turk's triumph would be a blow to prime minister Janez Jansa and would bolster his centre-left opponents before next year's general election.
Mr Jansa accused Mr Turk last week of defending the interests of Yugoslavia rather than Slovenia at the UN in 1991, when the republic was trying to secede from the Serb-dominated federation.
