“The matter is now crystal clear. They are behaving like Vučić with regard to Srebrenica or like Erdoğan with regard to the Armenian genocide. Erdoğan also condemns Srebrenica, points the finger at Gaza, but does not see the Armenian genocide,” historian Dežman was critical of the current authorities.
On the 30th anniversary of Srebrenica, Prime Minister Robert Golob mourned the victims of the genocide (he waxes poetic about the “indelible wound on the conscience of humanity”) and the victims from Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. At the same time, there is no mention of the genocide of the local civilian population, whose remains still lie in chasms and caves. Regardless of the fact that a few days ago, in Strasbourg, the European Parliament approved the resolution on preserving the memory of the victims of the post-war communist period in Slovenia.
Janković is violating the basic norms of civilisation by denying burial
This is an important moral incentive for the government of Robert Golob – to condemn communism. Let us recall that it was the current government that abolished the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communist Violence. Another clear example of trampling on the memory of the victims of the revolution is the Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković‘s opposition to the burial of Roma civilians at Ljubljana’s main cemetery – Žale, which is absolutely despicable and contrary to the basic norms of civilisation. We talked to historian Jože Dežman about the double standards of the rulers.
30 years have passed since the Srebrenica genocide. Prime Minister Golob expressed his deep regret on the anniversary of this event. What is your opinion on the matter?
The matter is now crystal clear. Golob & Co. are behaving like Aleksandar Vučić towards Srebrenica or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan towards the Armenians. Erdoğan, too, condemns Srebrenica, points the finger at Gaza, but does not see the Armenian genocide as genocide. It is quite clear how they have ‘lost their way’. When you listen to Slovenian Members of the European Parliament Irena Joveva, Marjan Šarec, Vladimir Prebilič and so on in the European Parliament … But the matter is no longer funny – the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, went to the commemoration at the Muslim Cultural Centre and will also go to Srebrenica, but she would not go to Kočevje with the relatives of the Slovenian victims. Now everything is clear. The problem is that they must realise that they (i.e. Golob & Co.) are in the company of Erdoğan, who denies the Armenian genocide, and Vučić, who denies the Srebrenica genocide. They now have to start comparing what is and what is not genocide (there were 8,372 murdered in Srebrenica, but the Slovenian genocide that happened in 1945 is bigger than that …).
So, what happened here in 1945 was genocide?
At least as far as the prisoner of war population is concerned – almost all of them were killed. It was the extermination of one group. It was a deliberate act of destruction. Incidentally, conscripts were also killed in Srebrenica. And in Slovenia, too, they were destroying the military substance of their opponents. The other thing is that the victims in Srebrenica have a grave, but in Slovenia, they do not. The third thing is that there is opposition to this. The European Union has voted that it is only right that these victims should have a grave. That is to say, for domestic political purposes, for some illusion of perpetuating the myth of I do not know what (it is not even clear to me anymore what they are talking about), they are using such nonsense that will cause everyone to laugh at us. In this case, they are no longer in the company of Erdoğan and Vučić, but in the company of the liars. They are the Baron Münchausen. This, too, is the tragedy of our Jankovićs, Kučans, and their subservient set (Pirc Musar, Golob, etc.). They are, in historical perspective, a comedy.
But what would happen if they admitted that genocide against Slovenian civilians happened?
It is not a question of recognising genocide, that is clear anyway. It is about maintaining political power through propaganda, maintaining a network of interests, etc. It is about an ideological substance that is completely meaningless. Nothing would have happened to them. They could modernise and start behaving normally. But because they are living in some collective religious frenzy – they are cultivating some civil religion which is historically completely over and done with… It does not exist anymore, but they still believe in it. They are basically comedians. And even though this is serious stuff, they come off as funny.
What is your opinion of a young MEP like Joveva, who was not a functionary in the previous regime and was not directly linked to it, but who was nonetheless fanatically opposed to the adoption of the EU resolution on the victims of the revolution?
I do not think even she herself believes what she is saying, but she is not the only one. Her youth is not a problem, because if we compare her with Nika Kovač and others like them … It is the same story of ideological overconfidence. The best way to put it is this: Zoran Janković and Irena Joveva, two bodies, one soul. One lost soul in two corpses.
Domen Mezeg
