Ljubljana - The ruling Democrats (SDS) have withdrawn a lawsuit against Marjan Šarec, the leader of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), over comments he made in March 2020 concerning the party's methods and financing.

Layer Franci Matoz did not provide the grounds for the withdrawal. Mladina magazine, which first reported the news last week, said the party was certain to lose the suit given that a court had previously cleared sociologist Rudi Rizman, who was sued by the party over similar comments.

The SDS wanted Šarec to retract his comment about the SDS broadcast by TV Slovenija in January 2020, when he said that it was hard to cooperate with a party "which applies methods as it applies; that is hate speech, and then it is also financed from Hungary".

The SDS said that Šarec had damaged the party's reputation. Matoz at the time described the quote as unjust and untruthful, arguing that it "unjustifiably disqualifies the SDS in public and pictures it in a distinctly negative light".