The musician Gregor Bezenšek, who ran in the Slovenian presidential elections, withdrew his candidacy today.

In September, Bezenšek was the first to submit a candidacy for the elections scheduled for October 23.

He clarified at a press conference that because of this, he was exposed to "exceptional pressures, hostile messages and threats" in the past period, the Slovenian news agency STA reported.

Without giving details, Bezensek added that he is against any hate speech and any aggression.

His election headquarters confirmed the threats, which also went in the direction of physical violence.

The State Election Commission has already confirmed the candidacy of Bezenšek, who as an independent candidate received the support of 5.673 voters. According to the commission, this is the first case where a candidate withdraws his consent for an already confirmed candidacy.

The deadline for withdrawing consent for the presidential candidacy expires today.

After the withdrawal of Bezenšek, seven candidates remain in the presidential race. The representative of the New Slovenia party - Janez Cigler Kralj, the mayor of Kočevje and candidate of the green party Vesna - Vladimir Prebilić, the representative of the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party - Anže Logar, the lawyer Natasha Pirc Musar, the representative of the Left party - Miho Kordis, the MEP and joint candidate of the Social Democrats and the Freedom Movement - Milan Brglez and the candidate of the Resni.ca party - Sabina Sencar.