In a few days, Slovenia will celebrate Statehood Day – a day marked by a national celebration, three decades after the results of the historic referendum, where we decided to become an independent state, were announced. As a rule, we should mark this important day with the best that Slovenia has to offer, including in terms of culture and performers at the celebration. And what will we get instead? One of the main performers will be the very man who publicly boasted that he voted against an independent Slovenia in the independence plebiscite. The government’s new provocation further creates divisions by denying the civil war that ended with independence.
It probably goes without saying what a pogrom it would cause if the organisers of the event were to invite the person who publicly declared that he had voted against the independence of this country as a keynote speaker on Statehood Day. Now, you are probably thinking that something like that could never actually happen. And yet here we are – on the occasion of Slovenia’s Statehood Day, none other than Robert Pešut – Magnifico – will be speaking at the celebration, and the government, as the organiser of the event, is adding fuel to the fire of civil war among Slovenians.
After last year’s Statehood Day celebrations, which caused quite a stir because of the eccentricity of the Speaker of the National Assembly, this year’s show will soon take place, and judging by the list of performers, it will be yet another provocation on the part of the government. How else could one interpret the fact that the government has invited Robert Pešut to be one of the performers? Out of so many other musicians and cultural figures who are actually proud of their roots and Slovenian music and to whom the day when we decided to become an independent state means a great deal, the government has chosen a man who has publicly ridiculed Slovenian folk music and publicly boasted that he voted “no” in the independence plebiscite.
Given that the Statehood Day celebrations also celebrate Slovenian cultural treasures, it means that Slovenian folk music is also being celebrated on this day. Avsenik‘s Golica is one of the most recognisable polkas and the most played instrumental piece of music in the world. Whatever our musical tastes, we must respect it and preserve its tradition. It is, therefore, all the more shameful that Magnifico, who has previously told the Al Jazeera television station how low his opinion of Slovenian folk music is, is performing at the celebrations.
Magnifico’s public criticism of Slovenian folk music was already unacceptable. However, his cynical mockery and making faces while apparently playing the accordion is a literal insult to all performers of this genre of music. Magnifico also demonstrated his proud Slovenian sentiments at one of the celebrations for the Prešeren Day, the Slovenian Cultural Holiday. He really “shone” with his singing performance in which he sang about how “nuns’ bellies are getting bigger, because they let priests shag them,” etc. He claimed that these were Prešeren’s verses, but the latter denied authorship of these verses and even indignantly complained to Ana Jelovšek about the fact that they were falsely attributed to him. But even if these verses were actually Prešeren’s, did they really belong at the Prešeren Day celebrations? The choice of songs provoked a wave of outrage among some of the audience, and even the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) leader Janez Janša spoke up at the time and wrote: “The Slovenian Cultural Holiday is intended to thank all those who enrich or care for our cultural tradition. A malicious provocation by someone who publicly boasts that he voted against Slovenia’s independence should not be part of this holiday. And the same goes for the applause of the audience for insulting their compatriots.” He also added: “Magnifico is a good musician in his genre. But that does not give him the right to disparage the traditions and culture of the Slovenian nation. Especially if he likes our money.”
As expected, after Magnifico’s performance, the social network Twitter literally exploded, and we could read that a national celebration on such an important holiday for Slovenians is certainly neither the place nor the time for such provocations, and that the central celebration should not be misused to allegedly punish Christians and priests, that the celebration cannot really be used to self-destructively divide the Slovenian nation, that it is completely unacceptable that the central celebration of a cultural holiday should be used by some to make a parasitic or even insulting mockery of Slovenia, Slovenians, the Slovenian word, and of France Prešeren, that the central national celebration should never be used as a pretext for political or even anti-Slovenian provocation, etc. This was the opinion of the people then, and it is the opinion of the people today, but the current authorities are not interested in this; on the contrary – their recent decision seems to be a deliberate provocation.
We have also asked the organisers of the celebrations, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the President of the Republic of Slovenia and the Speaker of the National Assembly, whether they consider this appropriate, and we have sent them the following message: “In view of the forthcoming national celebrations on the occasion of the Statehood Day, we would like to address the following question to you. The list of speakers at the national celebration includes Magnifico, who has publicly stated in the past that he voted “against” independence in the independence plebiscite. Do you think it is appropriate, then, for a national celebration of independence to feature someone who has openly opposed our independence? Not to mention the other public appearances in which he has made fun of Slovenian culture and Slovenian folk music. Do you not think that this is provocative to the public who saw these excesses and to the image that this presents in your name, too, as you are organising the celebrations?”
We will publish the answers to these questions when we receive them.
Ana Horvat
