Peter Bossman Becomes Mayor of Piran: Slovenia Elects Its 1st Black Mayor

Slovenia elected its first black mayor on Sunday, an immigrant from Africa known as the “Obama of Piran,” the town where he lives.

In fact, Peter Bossman, a Ghana-born physician, could be the first black mayor elected anywhere in his region of Europe.

Bossman, who settled in this tiny Alpine nation in the 1970s to study medicine in what was then known as Yugoslavia, won a runoff election in the coastal town of Piran with 51.4 percent of votes, defeating Dr. Tomaz Gantar, the outgoing mayor.

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Slovenia, a country of 2 million people is located near Italy, Austria and Croatia, and is a member of European Union and NATO. The vast majority of Slovenians are white, and there are few immigrants. The few blacks who are seen in the country tend to be tourists.

Vlado Miheljak, a political analyst, said the vote in Piran was a test about whether Slovenia was “mature enough to elect a nonwhite political representative.”

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