Tensions from Friday’s protesters are not easing – instead, they are growing even stronger. They once again tried to show their power on Friday night, when they decided to destroy the façades of headquarters of various political parties after their rally. The façade of the NSi party’s headquarters was plastered with swastikas and totalitarian symbols, which the president of the party, Matej Tonin, strongly condemned. “Enough violence and arbitrariness of a loud and rude minority. This is not NSi’s policy, and it is not our vision,” he made it clear. Despite numerous calls from politicians, it is becoming increasingly clear that a “constructive policy” cannot be established in Slovenia, and we can only dream of better and more tolerant times for now.
Friday’s protesters under the auspices of Jaša Jenull destroyed the façade of the headquarters of the Nova Slovenija party, as they plastered it with swastikas and totalitarian symbols – after destroying the signposts on Triglav in the same manner. “Enough violence and arbitrariness of a loud and rude minority. This is not NSi’s policy, and it is not our vision,” Tonin was clear.
According to the web portal eMaribor, Jenull’s gang visited the addresses of several political parties and hung posters on the facades of their headquarters. This time, the troublemakers went after all parties that are currently in parliament, with the exception of SNS and SDS. During the rally, the protesters also called for the withdrawal of Ljudmila Novak from the NSi party and then continued their march to the headquarters of the DeSUS party. The police calmly observed the troublemakers, but this time, unlike in previous months, the left-wing media outlets condemned their ruckus.
Minister of Defence Matej Tonin has repeatedly emphasised that he believes in a tolerant and respectful policy. “A policy that knows how to face arguments and is able to express them in a dignified way. The events on Kredarica and yesterday’s attacks on the headquarters of political parties show that we do not all share the same values in our society,” Tonin wrote. It is sad that in a time of an “advanced and developed” society, parties have to face attacks. And what is even sadder is the fact that we are becoming enemies to each other because of crimes that were (intentionally) committed in the past, which the protesters are further encouraging.
Protesters are stooping lower and lower and are becoming even more aggressive
The scenes at the headquarters of the NSi party that the Minister of Defence shared are reminiscent of the marking of houses in Germany during Hitler’s reign. “Stooping lower and lower and becoming more and more aggressive! We saw similar things happen in Germany in 1930 when the Nazis marked the buildings of those ‘whose past actions will not be forgotten.’ Democratic Slovenia, wake up! Let’s make it clear that we have had enough of such harassment,” he added.
Tonin is absolutely right; we have long since lost our way in Slovenia. We have lost the compass that would help us assess what is right and what is wrong or what we are actually fighting for, while we are sinking lower and lower into the “pool” as a society. Jenull is also not giving in and has emphasised that he will not allow things to simply be forgotten or allow people to forget how they are being persecuted by Janez Janša’s “government of fear.”
Janša also shared a clear message – he believes that the actions in question are reprehensible. “Will we continue to idly watch the proto-fascist squads, the sons and daughters of officials who think nothing can happen to them, will we continue to just observe how they are insulting us, threatening us, and have now even turned against their own people? This needs to be stopped,” he wrote.
Sara Rančigaj
