Slovenia has lodged a protest with the European Parliament over an EU election leaflet available at its press event in which the country is marked as a non-EU member.

Leaflets from the European Parliamentary Research Service on its What Europe Does for Me project were available at the 22 February event for Brussels correspondents meant to showcase the parliament's activities for the June elections.

The leaflet features a blue map of Europe with EU countries marked in a lighter shade of blue than the background and non-EU members. Slovenia, which joined the EU 20 years ago, is coloured dark blue just like non-EU members such as Western Balkan countries and Switzerland.

Slovenia's Permanent Representative to the EU Iztok Jarc expressed disappointment over the leaflet in a letter to the chief of staff of the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

He asked for the mistake to be corrected and the leaflet to be withdrawn from circulation immediately. He also proposed a public apology.

The European Parliament's press service told the Slovenian Press Agency that this was a case of an unfortunate misprint, and that a corrected version of the leaflet was already in print.

Slovenia's president and some Slovenian MEPs have also responded. Nataša Pirc Musar called the mistake unacceptable, calling for an apology, while praising the quick response by Slovenian MEPs.

Matjaž Nemec (S&D/SD) sent an e-mail to the European Parliamentary Research Service, saying that such a "mistake is completely inadmissible and unprofessional". He called for the withdrawal of the leaflets and an apology.

Romana Tomc (EPP/SDS) wrote on X that she had not seen the leaflet but would not be surprised if this were true. "Similarly, an 'in-depth' analysis on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Slovenia was created in 2021, which was later used as a basis for an attack on the Janez Janša government," she wrote.