LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Long-serving Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek, who has led this former Yugoslav republic closer to the West, won Slovenia's presidential election in a runoff Sunday.
With nearly 99 percent of the ballots counted, Drnovsek had about 56 percent of the vote, according to the State Electoral Commission.
State prosecutor Barbara Brezigar, a political novice who campaigned on a message that her young country needs new leadership, collected 43.7 percent, according to the results.
"I am looking forward for us together to open a new chapter in our Slovene homeland," said Drnovsek, who has been prime minister since 1992, except for a brief spell in the opposition in 2000.
The commission said turnout for the runoff vote was about 64 percent — much less than in the first round, when nearly 73 percent of 1.6 million eligible voters cast their ballots. Final results were expected Monday.
Drnovsek, 52, said he would resign as the prime minister no later than Wednesday. He is expected to be replaced by the finance minister, Anton Rop. The presidential inauguration is set for Dec. 23.
Milan Kucan, 61, the only president the nation has had since it gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 after a 10-day war, is extremely popular among Slovenes. But he was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term in the largely ceremonial post.
Both Kucan and Drnovsek have focused on moving the nation of 2 million people, squeezed between Italy, Austria and Croatia, away from the intrigues of the Balkans and into the European mainstream.
The hard work has paid off: Slovenia was recently invited to join NATO and is almost certain to join the European Union in 2004.
The nation also has a stable democracy, free media and an unemployment rate lower than in Germany or France. The per capita income is equal to $10,000 — and the country's main concern about joining the EU is that it would be too rich to deserve the union's financial assistance.
Drnovsek, the Liberal Democrats' leader, remains convinced that the country should stay on a pro-Western course— in politics and the economy.
In 1989, just before Yugoslavia disintegrated in bloody wars, Drnovsek headed the federation's rotating, collective presidency.
At the time, he was a member of the Communist party that ruled Yugoslavia. But he never really belonged there — during party congresses, he regularly cut meetings to go skiing.
Born in the northeastern city of Celje on May 17, 1950, Drnovsek studied economics and later worked as a banker, before entering politics in the late 1980s.
He won his first mandate in 1992, and the second in 1996. The conservative opposition managed to oust him in mid-2000, but he returned to the post in elections six months later.
His health has been fragile since having a cancerous kidney removed three years ago. But he claims to be fit for the presidency and his courage in fighting the illness has been appreciated by many Slovenes.
Still, the mild-mannered politician, who has largely avoided scandals and rows with rivals, doesn't lack critics.
Some European officials complain that he has been reluctant to sell country's profitable companies to foreign investors and some at home resent the fact that his Liberal Democrats seem to be entrenched in power.
Brezigar was a choice for those wanting change.
Briefly a justice minister in the 2000 conservative government, she earned respect for heading the state department in charge of fighting organized crime and corruption.