LJUBLJANA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- About 2,000 people protested peacefully in front of a heavily guarded Israeli embassy in Ljubljana, which was officially opened on Wednesday.
The first Israeli embassy in the country so far was opened by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who was on a two-day visit to Slovenia to promote economic, educational, scientific, cultural and sports cooperation between the two countries.
Protesters held Slovenian and Palestinian flags and banners and chanted slogans opposing Israel and supporting Palestine.
Two center-left opposition parties earlier on Wednesday proposed to parliament to file a constitutional charge against the center-right Prime Minister Janez Jansa because of his government's stance towards Israel, saying that Slovenia no longer has a sovereign foreign policy but uses its foreign policy solely in the interest of Israel.
In late August, Slovenia blocked a joint European Union statement that condemned Israel's plans to build 1,200 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank.
The previous center-left government of Slovenia officially recognized the State of Palestine in June 2024 and in 2025 declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his ministers, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, persona non grata, citing their violation of Palestinian human rights.
But the new center-right government, which took over in June following the March general election, cancelled those declarations and increased ties with Israel, claiming Israel was a valuable partner.
"In this government we chose dialogue instead of exclusion because we believe that social development is based on cooperation and opening new horizons," Slovenian Foreign Minister Tone Kajzer said at a meeting with his Israeli counterpart.
