Remember how Tanja Fajon slammed Janez Janša when he was among the first people to go to Kyiv at a time when the Ukrainian capital was under siege from all sides? She criticised so many of his actions and called his visit, which was a very brave act of solidarity, a farce. And now she is in Kyiv herself. She claims to have gone there to show solidarity and support – but given her great desire for attention and five minutes of fame, which she also demonstrated with her helicopter “photoshoot” during the recent devastating fires in the Kras region, it is safe to assume that her visit to Kyiv is also happening with the sole purpose of getting attention, and, of course, it has come at a time when the situation is calm and stable.
After having inappropriately criticised former Prime Minister Janša’s visit to Kyiv during the state of war, which was, in fact, a sign of solidarity and courage, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, has now visited Kyiv herself.
Janez Janša went to Kyiv at a time when the Ukrainian capital was besieged from all sides, and his action required a lot of courage, which is something Fajon could not admit to at the time, and therefore condemned his action, calling it a farce. And the slander did not only take place among her colleagues in Slovenia but, as is typical of her, she also slandered the former Prime Minister in front of her German colleagues.
And now, just as she came for her five minutes of fame to the Kras region – but only after the worst was over – and took a photo in the helicopter, she now went to Kyiv for the same reason.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, arrived in Kyiv to express Slovenia’s political and practical support for Ukraine and its brave people, and she also boasted about it on Twitter. When Janez Janša was one of the first people to visit Ukraine’s capital, in a show of solidarity and support, during the state of war, Fajon – the very same “supporter” of Ukraine who is now there – took to Twitter to say that Janša’s actions send the “wrong signal,” that the visit was a “farce,” and once again spread “anti-Janšaism” among her German colleagues. Given her past criticism, her visit to Kyiv surprised many, including the former Prime Minister Janez Janša, who joked: “Lo and behold, we even got Tanja Fajon on the right track. :)”
She strongly criticised Janša’s visit to Kyiv
It was clear as day that back when Janša went to visit Kyiv, Fajon wanted to contribute to fuelling internal political divisions with reactions such as this one: “Janša’s proposal means a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, and thus a war of global proportions between the nuclear superpowers. Such provocation is unwise and irresponsible. What we need now are messengers of peace, not new messengers of war.”
Namely, she was bothered by the fact that Janša’s trip to Kyiv represented one of the greatest foreign policy acts in history, and his visit was praised by many foreign media outlets. Given that Fajon had proved in the past that she would only debate with the aggressor, who was deaf to all calls for a ceasefire, and given that she expressed solidarity with Ukraine rather than help with the delivery of weapons that were crucial to fighting the aggressor, her reaction to Janša’s visit surprised no one, just as it is no surprise that she went there now, to get her five minutes of fame.
Will she advise the Ukrainians to put their weapons away?
It is somewhat hypocritical that she went to Kyiv to show her support, given that she has made it clear in the past that she is sympathetic to Russia. Remember, Tanja Fajon had repeatedly stressed in the past that the only way out of the crisis is through dialogue with Russia and that lasting peace and stability in the EU cannot be achieved without the said dialogue, thus giving some indication of what the new government’s attitude towards Russia will be. But she is unlikely to share any of this with the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dymitro Kuleba, with whom she is planning to meet. Just as she will probably not show the Ukrainians the photograph of her bowing down to the Communist butcher Boris Kidrič. She will wisely keep quiet about all of that.
Of course, she waited for the right time to visit Kyiv. She waited for the situation to cool down a bit, just as she waited for the right time to come to the Kras region for a photoshoot, at a time of the terrible fire of historic proportions. But Fajon only came when the worst was already over. Not only was that a bizarre move, but it was also extremely inappropriate given the situation in which firefighters, soldiers, foresters and other volunteers left their hearts in the field during the extinguishing of the fires. Many people lost a lot in those days, and the landowners were left without their forests and crops in their fields. And the same is likely to happen in Kyiv today – Fajon will do anything for the sake of a photo-op and some fame.
Tanja Brkić
