On Wednesday on Radio-Television Slovenia, all seven candidates for the position of the President of the Republic of Slovenia faced each other in a debate. They discussed wealth, their attitudes to taxes, ideological differences, values and scandals. The “star” of the debate was certainly Milan Brglez, who got caught up in his own explanations, stuttered, and was unable to respond to the accusations related to the Slovenian Chess Federation, which he chaired until recently. Candidates Anže Logar and Nataša Pirc Musar were surprised by his confusion, and the cameras also caught candidate Vladimir Prebilič smiling in disbelief at the failed attempt to evade the questions posed to Brglez by the host of the show.
When asked about the Slovenian Chess Federation, Brglez initially replied that he did not know what the TV show host was talking about. Namely, they showed a donation contract with Slovenian Railways worth 200 thousand euros, which Milan Brglez had conditioned on his election as President of the Slovenian Chess Federation in 2019. It is also known that some prominent members of the Social Democrats party (Socialni demokrati – SD), to which Brglez also belongs, such as Miha Butara, are employed at the Slovenian Railways. The accusations were made that Brglez used public money to buy his election in the Chess Federation and that he did so through party connections.
At first, Brglez feigned ignorance and tried to pretend like he did not know what the host of the show was talking about, and then he – unsuccessfully – tried to get out of the sticky situation. “In the Chess Federation, the key body is the executive committee, and the executive committee tries to get new leadership at … at … at … basically … well … the general assembly in front of all the delegates, who are delegates of the individual chess clubs, when there is an election, and this is where I was approached by the previous executive committee, and I agreed to lead the Slovenian Chess Federation,” he said incoherently and without answering the actual question. The TV show host reminded him once again that the minutes say that he promised a sponsorship deal, but only if he was elected. “I did not say that,” “I do not know what you are talking about,” “I did not sign the sponsorship agreement,” were his hopeless evasive attempts. Some of the people who commented on the debate responded to Brglez’s reaction by saying that he “freezes up” completely when he is confronted with unpleasant content, which says a lot about our media, who do not want to broach the subject. And above all, it says a great deal about Brglez himself, who is not, after all, the “first-class” politician they want to portray him as.
A Twitter user even posted a public question to Brglez, in which he wrote: “Mr Milan Brglez, you keep making excuses and blaming the Slovenian Chess Federation’s managing bodies or saying that you did not condition anything in your speech. Many claim otherwise. The session was recorded in accordance with the acts, but the recordings were made unavailable during your presidency and subsequent complications. Can you explain that?”
A deal made between the Chess Federation and a sponsor
According to the host of the show, the minutes state that the sponsorship contract with Slovenian Railways would be signed if the leadership was elected, and it was – “200 thousand euros, this is public money.” Again, Brglez talked about everything else – but not about the question. He argued that this money was necessary for the Slovenian Chess Federation to be able to function at all, but he was unable to answer the question of whether this was a misuse of public money for the political purposes of the Social Democrats party. He merely said that the way in which sponsorship was provided was essential for the individual federations to be able to function at all.
With this, Anže Logar said that he had not seen the contract himself, nor the minutes, but “for someone to say at the inauguration speech that if I am elected, I will also get a sponsorship contract, sounds like a pre-arranged deal.” Vladimir Prebilič also smiled as Brglez desperately tried to dodge the questions, and Nataša Pirc Musar just looked on with disbelief. It was clear to everyone that Brglez was not telling the truth.
“Then the minutes are wrong, Mr Brglez, if that is what the minutes say,” the host of the show tried to get a concrete answer out of him one more time. Brglez once again gave a stammering answer. Again, he denied having said that, “but if others in the debate also discussed the fact that at the general assembly, it was the former executive board or… yes… executive board… or board of directors… said things about how the sponsorships came about, how much it is a year, that is one piece of information.” And again, he tried to justify the money, saying that without the national team, it would be difficult to take part in competitions.
Sara Kovač
