LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- While U.S. President Donald Trump is known for his Twitter use, his Slovenian counterpart is known for his presence on Instagram.
Borut Pahor, who is known as "Barbie" and along with Melania Trump is Slovenia's other former fashion model making international headlines, has been actively using the social media app.
He started publishing his photos on Instagram, including one of him riding on a garbage truck in red overalls, ahead of the 2012 presidential election, which he won.
On Instagram, Pahor's 24,000 followers, in the country of 2 million people, can see the 53-year-old in many different poses and personalities. One shows him topless with a tattoo of a dolphin on his shoulder; another repairing a road alongside the workers. There's also Pahor on a soccer field, and one of Pahor skiing. Another post shows him preparing to swim in a tight suit.
There's also a photo of him with former U.S. President Barack Obama, with a caption: "the most inspiring."
"Barbie, and not a bad guy," reads his comment on a photo with makeup being applied to his face. The nickname comes from his modeling days while studying political science in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
On one posting, he is shown with supermodel Naomi Campbell. On another, he speaks to U2 frontman Bono.
A photo of him leaning against a marble stairway in the presidential palace in Egypt last year, with the caption "homesick in Cairo," has inspired many Slovenians to copy his pose, which became known as "#boruting" on social media.
"Communications between people and politicians are changing all the time," Pahor said. "Instagram is most used by young people. In a period of distrust of politics, this is a way to reach them."
However, he said he had no illusions that such communication can replace direct contact. "Life contact with people is the most important."
Pahor acknowledged that he runs the risk of being labeled as a populist.
"I accept that risk. But there is difference between negative and positive populism," Pahor said.
Marko Rakar, a political consultant, called it "light populism."
"He is basically publishing photos which are appropriate to a point of [being] funny," Rakar said. "He's trying to present himself as a likable person doing a lot of stuff."
Rakar said Pahor's Instagram activity was not the same as Trump's famous Twitter messages.
"Instagram is not really a communication [platform] for sending political messages," he said. "Twitter is much more suitable for politics."
Amid the social media activity, Pahor has also shown a desire to grow his presence on the international stage.
Pahor has offered to host the first meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he recently met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin and Putin in Moscow.
Then he went to Ukraine, where a recent flare-up threatened to reignite hostilities between Russian-backed rebels and government troops.
Although Slovenia is a European Union member and supports the bloc's sanctions against the Kremlin for its role in Ukraine, it has maintained traditional ethnic ties to Russia.
SundayMonday Business on 03/13/2017