In an interview on the show Odmevi regarding the violent protests that happened this Wednesday due to the protesters opposing the RVT condition (recovered, vaccinated, tested), Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, said that the fiercest perpetrators had been detained. “As far as I know, samples from the objects that had been thrown to the parliament building had been collected and will be sent to the lab for analysis, so we will also be able to figure out who the perpetrators were from the DNA on these objects. I believe that the investigation will take quite some time, but that the perpetrators will be found,” he said, announcing, among other things, that the T-condition (which means testing) will no longer apply in the state administration.
According to Minister Aleš Hojs, an organised group appeared at the protest, which attacked the police. They kept attacking even after the police used a tear gas cannon, as well as a water cannon. Hojs pointed out that it was unusual for the organiser of the rally to say that they had received information that the thugs would be coming to the rally, but the police did not have this information. “If he had indeed received such information, he would have been obliged to report it to the police. It is more than obvious that this was not just a bunch of peaceful protesters, protesting against vaccination – or, to be honest, against science.”
Hojs believes that the violent protest was the result of the fact that for 70 consecutive Fridays, protests in Ljubljana had been encouraged. And according to the minister, it is only the naïve people who believe that Friday’s protests are peaceful. They represent a replica of the protests that were being carried out by the fascists in the first half of the previous century, he pointed out, adding that it was also the fascists who were the ones who first started shouting: “The streets are ours, let’s dissolve the parliament, we do not need elections.” “And at the same time, the Friday’s protests are in fact symbolically practically the same as what the Nazis did before the Second World War in Celje, when they terrorised the Slovenian nation – which is also what the academic Gantar wrote.”
When the host of the show Odmevi, Tanja Starič, claimed that Friday’s protests had never been this violent, Hojs replied that this is, in fact, not true. The protests that happened on the 5th of November were extremely violent. According to Hojs, deputies from the SD party were especially eager to invite people to that particular protest. For example, the vice-president of the SD party, Marko Koprivec, invited people to join the protest on the 5th of November via Twitter, Hojs pointed out, adding that the time had come for us to stop averting our gaze and face the truth.
Since there were quite a few questions asked about the conduct of the police, Hojs remarked that we need to keep in mind that the police, based on the information that they received, predicted that the rally would be peaceful. “And it is also a fact that even though there was no fence, the police played their role extremely well. They called in additional forces, additional special police units, and also used tear gas and a water cannon relatively early, which prevented the escalation of the violent protests,” he pointed out, adding that as the minister, he only has praise for the police. Given that the union reported that the leaders also called officers without the RVT condition to come help with the situation, Hojs said that the union’s statement was not true and also indicates that the union has changed, or rather, the leadership has turned the union into a forum or an additional wing of the SD political party.
Protests like these cannot change the government’s plans
In connection with the issue of the emergence of violence, which has been happening more and more often lately, Hojs explained that the government is working to urge people to get vaccinated against covid-19 in order to get rid of the virus as soon as possible. People need to be made aware that the virus is dangerous and that hospitals can fill up over capacity once again, he stressed, adding that on the other side, we have the parties that said not long ago that there should be no masks in schools, and they even oppose vaccination. “Even the trade unionist Štrukelj decided to call the members of the union (to get vaccinated) only a few days ago,” he said, adding that it was interesting that the police union had not yet been able to issue this call. According to Hojs, the government will continue to recommend vaccination and encourage people to go get vaccinated. Protests like these cannot change the government’s plans to tighten the conditions as much as possible. It is more than obvious that the virus is spreading extremely fast, he pointed out.
For the state administration, only the conditions of vaccinated and recovered will apply from now on
According to Hojs, the government has repeatedly called on the opposition to work together on the changes to the legislation, which are currently being processed, and which were imposed by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, which said that certain things need to be changed. “You saw the reaction of the opposition, which has been blocking the adoption of the new law on communicable diseases for three months now, with your own eyes,” he said. “Just a few minutes before I arrived at the studio, the correspondence session of the government ended. I do not have the results of the vote yet, but I am almost certain that none of the ministers would vote against it, so I feel pretty confident in saying that this decree has now been adopted. It introduces what you yourself have said, that is, the mandatory condition of V or R, meaning vaccination or recovery, for the entire state administration with its constituent bodies. That includes all ministers, the army, the police, administrative units, the General Secretariat of the Government, and a few other government services.”
When asked what will happen to those who do not meet the condition, Hojs replied that the decree states that the head of the department decides or assesses by him or herself whether it is possible to order these people to work from home. The same is provided for those who are unable to meet the condition for health reasons. So, someone who has not recovered from the coronavirus disease and has not been vaccinated yet can still get tested. “The head of the body, the minister, still has the option to allow this.” Hojs then remarked that he cannot imagine a police officer working from home. “The condition will be fully valid from the 1st of November, so you still have two weeks until the 1st of October, so you have enough time to receive your first dose before that date. And then you can also receive the second dose before the 1st of November,” he added.
Nina Žoher
