Ljubljana  - Slovenia's conservative opposition won the most votes in the European Parliament election, defeating the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Borut Pahor.

With a record low voter turnout of 28 per cent in the election on Sunday, the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) won 26,9 per cent of vote and two seats. Another party from the political right, the New Slovenia, claimed a single place in the European Parliament.

Pahor's centre-left Social Democrats appeared satisfied after after unofficial results showed a win of 18.5 per cent of the vote. Slovenia's ruling alliance, along with its two liberal junior partners, will have four seats in the legislature.

The SDS leader and former premier, Janez Jansa, said the outcome was a "warning signal" that the government must do more to combat the economic crisis, while Pahor described the result of his party as "not bad under the circumstances."

Three of Slovenia's seven deputies won a re-election Sunday.

The SDS will send former education minister Milan Zver, 47, to the European Parliament and return MEP Romana Jordan Cizelj, 43.

The Social Democrats will be represented by former foreign minister Zoran Thaler and former television journalist Tanja Fajon, 38.

New Slovenia, which had 16 per cent of the ballots Sunday, will send Lojze Peterle, 60, the first prime minister of Slovenia after independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

The Liberal Democrats and the other liberal party, ZARES, with 11 and 10 per cent per cent of the votes respectively, are sending the former defence minister Jelko Kacin, 53, and Ivo Vajgl, 66, another former foreign minister.(dpa)