“Dear Janez Janša and friends of the SDS party, in extremely difficult times you have taken responsibility for Slovenia and Europe and brought results! We look forward to continuing to work together well in the European People’s Party,” said Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, in support of the Prime Minister and President of the SDS party Janez Janša.
Even though they are trying to show the result of the SDS party in the parliamentary elections in a very negative light on POP TV, saying that Europe should be happy that Janša did not win, the fact that Manfred Weber expressed support for Janez Janša is extremely important. The European People’s Party is the largest political group in the European Parliament. Weber expressed support for the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) before the election. He said that the SDS party has friends and partners all over Europe. “The European People’s Party is with you. The entire European People’s Party is with you and wishes you all the best,” he said at the party convention.
“We are facing great challenges; we are in wartime. Russia is waging war against Ukraine. But Ukrainian friends are fighting not only for themselves, but for all of us. They are fighting for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law,” Weber said at a recent party convention, adding that there is no room here for any of us to be somewhere in between –you are either on the side of Ukraine or on the side of Russia. In the European People’s Party, we are on the side of Ukrainian friends, he said, thanking Janša for his courageous step when he was the first to go to Ukraine to support Ukrainians. “Others followed, he was the first,” he said, thanking the SDS president for his outstanding leadership of the European Union.
Meanwhile, POP TV, where background editor is Drago Kos, is trying to show how there is enthusiasm in Europe for the Gibanje Svoboda party defeating the SDS party. They are relying on the statements of Sophie in ‘t Veld, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Respect for Democracy, the Rule of Law, and Fundamental Rights, who sought imaginary dictators as part of a mission in Slovenia. It is especially bizarre that they rely on the statement of political scientist Alem Maksuti, who told Politico that the SDS party suffered a severe defeat and lost to the left-wing party, which was formed only at the beginning of this year. “Given that he supported Donald Trump in his statements about fraudulent elections in the United States, we expect him to challenge the legitimacy of the election,” he added. Anyone who has at least a hint of common sense knows that relying on Maksuti’s claims is bizarre. Namely, he is an analyst, characterised by radical and primitive statements, for whom there was no room even at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Obviously, Maksuti has problems with mathematics, as the SDS party won an additional parliamentary seat compared to the previous elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
In his comment on the social network Twitter, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Paweł Jabłonski pointed out that Janša, who was one of the first to visit Ukraine together with the Polish Prime Minister, lost the parliamentary elections. “The official profile of the European People’s Party suggests that Janša is the target of Russian attacks,” Jabłonski said, referring to the party’s announcement in the European Parliament. Namely, in one of its posts, it wrote without mincing its words that it was concerned about Russia’s possible interference in the Slovenian elections, which, according to them, was obviously the result of Slovenia’s strong and unequivocal support for Ukraine. “Slovenia was one of the first countries to strongly condemn the Russian barbaric war in Ukraine,” they said. Janša responded to the expressed concern and added that, unfortunately, strong politicians, decorated with Putin’s medals, want to push Slovenia back into the sphere of influence in Russia. “When their camp was led by the Slovenian government, the foreign minister made 13 visits to Moscow and none to Washington or Berlin.”
Commenting on the results of the elections in Cankarjev dom, NSi champion Matej Tonin claimed that Russia’s interference in the Slovenian elections had taken place. “In the last few hours, we have been monitoring a number of chain e-mails spreading false news,” he said, adding that judging by the data obtained, it could be concluded that Russian sources had intervened.
We have been able to see new faces in the parliamentary elections so far, but as we can see, all of them, without exception, have become a thing of the past. Namely, they do not have the necessary experience and important acquaintances in Europe. Prime Minister Janša enjoys a reputation abroad, as he has twice placed Slovenia at the centre of events in Europe, when he successfully chaired the presidency of the Council of the EU. In addition, he is known to not only nod to European leaders, but to be one of those who pursues a proactive policy and accordingly represents an important interlocutor with experience.
Sara Kovač
