With the event held at the Celje Castle on Thursday evening, the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) concluded its campaign for the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. Among others, the President of the party, Janez Janša, also addressed those gathered at the event.
The European elections will not only be about who will represent Slovenia in the European Union for the next five years, but also about where Slovenian democracy will go, according to the SDS party leader, Janez Janša. The SDS party took the campaign seriously, offering substance and the strongest list of candidates possible. But the time for counting the seats will not come until Sunday – nothing has been decided yet, and there is still a fight to be fought, Janša noted, urging people to go to the elections.
On the day of the general vote, both the Slovenian and the European electoral bodies will decide on the defence of the values on which the European Union was founded, Janša stressed in his address to those gathered at the Celje Castle at the SDS party’s electoral convention ahead of the European elections. Although the campaign is in its final stage, in Janša’s opinion, “it has not been possible to talk much about what Europe is about today.”
The SDS party prepared a manifesto with substance, presented answers to today’s challenges, and wanted to discuss their positions with rival parties, but they had little luck in doing so. “Our candidates, and a few other exceptions, tried to talk about substance, while the others were more likely to pick up paddles, like in quizzes at school,” the opposition leader commented on his political rivals. He also accused the government coalition of “launching” certain issues, such as the recognition of Palestine and the safe access to abortion initiative. Meanwhile, he believes, the key problems felt by Europeans have been left behind. “We are worried about security, the war in Ukraine, the conflicts in the Middle East, the rising prices of energy, the question of food security, whether we will be able to secure the external Schengen borders as Europe,” he listed the pressing problems, among others. Those who are currently in control of our destiny in Slovenia, however, do not see these problems and instead sweep them under the carpet because they have no solutions, he said.
In the meantime, Janša believes that the SDS party has presented its strongest list of candidates yet. “We have candidates who are worthy of your trust,” he said. After Tuesday’s developments in the National Assembly on the recognition of Palestine, where the SDS party accuses the coalition of disregarding the National Assembly’s rules of procedure, every vote will count double, according to Janša. “This must be a revolt against abuse, against the destruction of Slovenian democracy and, at the same time, a fight for Europe,” he urged.
Janša believes that the answer to the right way forward also lies in a high voter turnout at the elections. He therefore urged all citizens who are still undecided on whether or not to vote to cast their ballot. “Maybe this is the last option to do so. Because those who do not respect the rules of procedure may also decide to no longer allow elections,” Janša said.
The final event of the SDS party’s pre-election campaign was attended by several of the party’s most prominent representatives, alongside the candidates for the position of Member of the European Parliament. Before the start of the electoral convention, current SDS MEPs Romana Tomc and Milan Zver said that there was not enough content in the general campaign before the European elections and that European issues were lost. However, they agree that the campaign this time was intense and also marked by a struggle between the candidates within the individual lists.
M. I.
