Peter Bossman: Slovenia's first black mayor

Peter Bossman, 54 and owner of a private medical practice, made history at the weekend by being elected as the first Black mayor in Piran, south-western Slovenia.

Originally from Ghana Bossman settled in Slovenia in the 1970s to study medicine. He won a narrow victory over the previous mayor, Tomaz Gantar, with 51.4% of the vote.

Mr Bossman said he was "happy and proud" and that "I based my campaign on a dialogue, and I think the dialogue has won."

Mr Bossman said he had faced no discrimination because of his skin colour or origins in recent years.

"There are always small groups of people not accepting people who are different and in the first months after coming to Slovenia I felt that some people did not want to be with us," he said.

"But for the last 10 or 15 years, I experienced nothing like that anymore. I have no problems at all and I think people no longer see the colour of my skin when they look at me," he added

His campaign pledges include the introduction of electric cars in Piran. He also hopes to develop an airport and a golf course to boost tourism.