At the end of the bizarre tour of her homeland, aimed at promoting both herself and the Golob government she politically created, European Commissioner from Slovenia, Marta Kos, met up with Erik Valenčič, a well-known journalist with extreme views. What does the European Commission have to say about this?
“A warm conversation with journalist and humanitarian Erik Valenčič. Thank you for the gift – a painting called ‘Springtime in Harkiv,’ and for all your help in Ukraine!” wrote European Commissioner Marta Kos on the social network X. Erik Valenčič has transformed in recent years into a war reporter from Ukraine, who has previously travelled extensively in the Middle East and is known as a left-wing extremist at home. Why is the European Commissioner meeting with such a politically controversial man, and even in the context of a specifically organised meeting, not just a casual passing-by? Perhaps the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, would also be interested to know.
Who is the ‘independent journalist’ Erik Valenčič?
Valenčič presents himself in public as an independent journalist and a fighter for world peace who somehow found his way into the mainstream through the media of the Slovenian far left. He has worked with the extreme leftist magazine Mladina for a long time, he also writes for Petrič’s Delo newspaper, and for a while he was also employed by the national media outlet, Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS) – he has been reporting from the Middle East since 2003. But let’s remember that he is anything but an ordinary journalist. He is known for his support for the dictator Saddam Hussein at the time when the Bush administration removed the dictator, and he is also a sympathiser with the terrorist group Hamas.
He is also known for his strong antipathy towards the Slovenian right and his clear, very evident political bias. In the documentary film entitled the Coalition of Hate (Koalicija Sovraštva), he linked the largest opposition party – the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) to neo-Nazi movements without any evidence to prove his claim. This also led to him being questioned by the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office, and in 2015, he was fired from the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia.
Valenčič is also a strong supporter of open borders and believes that European nations should allow all people who wish to enter their territory to do so, and sees climate change as the cause of the migrant crisis.
Anti-Semitic tendencies?
Valenčič has also shown clear anti-Semitic tendencies in the past. In a certain group of people (we have their names in the editorial office), he stated that “Jews are scum” and that he had posed in a hotel in Gaza a few years ago with a Russian AK-47 rifle or Kalashnikov. The group in question says it has the picture archived, even though the activist-journalist removed it shortly after it was posted on social media, but only after there was widespread public outrage.
As the Jewish Community of Slovenia (Judovska skupnost Slovenije – JSS) pointed out, Valenčič’s anti-Semitism is of a special kind, as it is based on cultural-Marxist premises. He views the conflict between Palestinians and Jews “through the prism of the struggle between the exploiting capitalists, who for him are the occupying Jews, and the exploited, i.e. the Palestinians. In doing so, he overlooks the fact that we cannot be occupiers on our own land, where we have lived continuously for 3,000 years. According to this logic, you Slovenians are the occupiers of Prekmurje and Koroška,” Dr Igor Vojtic of the Jewish Community of Slovenia was critical of Valenčič.
“We have been following Erik Valenčič’s activities for 15 years, since the moment he went to the Gaza Strip as a journalist and/or left-wing activist. In particular, his covert anti-Semitism was evident when he worked as a freelancer for the web portal of the national media outlet, MMC RTV. In this regard, we are using the definition of anti-Semitism as adopted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia on the basis of the IHRA definition,” the Jewish Community explained.
Unworthy of a European Commissioner
Meeting a far-left anti-Semite is, of course, a highly unusual move for a European Commissioner who is, after all, a member and representative of the political mainstream. The question is whether her boss, Ursula Von Der Leyen, really understands what Marta Kos is doing on her behalf around the world, or at least in her own home country. In fact, she no longer represents the far-left government that politically created her, but instead represents the whole of the European Union: its values, its principles of freedom and tolerance. Meeting a notorious anti-Semite who has in the past expressed support for the worst autocrats and has been accused of anti-Semitism by the Jewish Community of Slovenia is certainly not something of which European politics can be proud.
Question for the European Commission
We have therefore sent press questions to the European Commission regarding the meeting between Marta Kos and Erik Valenčič. We wanted to know whether it was in the spirit of the European Commission for a European Commissioner to meet with a notorious anti-Semite, who has even been accused of covert anti-Semitism by the Jewish Community of Slovenia, on the basis of the IHRA definition.
I. K.
