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Slovene Premier Quits as Political Cracks Appear in East EU

  • Premier to inform president of his decision on Thursday
  • Premier’s popularity has plunged amid wave of strikes for pay
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar leaves a press conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia on March 14, after resigning his position. 

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar leaves a press conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia on March 14, after resigning his position. 

Photographer: Jure Makovec/AFP via Getty Images

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Slovenia’s prime minister unexpectedly resigned just months before the small euro-zone member holds elections, opening the way to an upstart party that’s pledged to sweep the country’s political elite from power.

Premier Miro Cerar’s announcement coincided with an offer to resign by his counterpart in another ex-communist country, underscoring an atmosphere of political turmoil that is sweeping the European Union’s eastern wing. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made a conditional offer to step down amid that nation’s biggest anti-government protests since the fall of the Iron Curtain.