During her recent working visit, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, addressed Members of the European Parliament. The speech, however, proved to be highly controversial. The transitional media in our home country tried to present the speech as a success, but the reality is quite different. MEP Milan Zver believes that the speech was political, and he also did not rule out the possibility that it was deliberate, but he is certainly convinced that it has further brought Slovenia into disrepute.
“I was sure that she would do her protocol duty and not “lecture” the European Parliament like a teacher in a classroom – that is inappropriate. […] She has wasted an opportunity, and Slovenia wasted it with her,” said MEP Milan Zver, who was extremely disappointed by the speech of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar.
The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, gave a speech in the European Parliament that provoked a strong reaction, which was overwhelmingly negative among many Slovenian and foreign representatives. MEP Milan Zver was highly critical of her speech, saying that she had wasted an opportunity to present Slovenia in a dignified manner. In his view, she should have been more careful in her choice of words and avoided a divisive political performance that suited only the far left.
As he said: “I did not like that. I believe the majority of the Parliament did not like it. It was one third of the Parliament that applauded her, not one half; it was the far left, and she seemed to like it very much, so she kept on pausing the speech and enjoyed the applause.”
Zver pointed out that the President spoke too much in the first person, which he compared to the behaviour of a teacher in a classroom: “I think, I feel …” Who cares, people want to hear a speech from a statesperson, but there was none of that. Particularly controversial was her reference to Israel as a genocidal state, which Zver described as a “climax”, which even caused some MEPs to leave the Chamber.
A wasted opportunity
“She has wasted an opportunity, and Slovenia wasted it with her,” he added. He also mentioned that David McAllister, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), had expressed visible surprise and that some more right-wing MEPs had reacted strongly, which had led to an unpleasant atmosphere. MEP Romana Tomc and MEP Branko Grims were similarly critical, with Tomc writing on the X platform: “The European far left was impressed by Nataša Pirc Musar’s performance. It is not usual for presidents of countries who speak in the European Parliament to be divisive with their speeches. Unfortunately, the Slovenian President succeeded in doing so.”
MEP Branko Grims added: “The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, turned her speech in the European Parliament into a far-left propaganda piece, which only the far-left applauded at the end. A missed opportunity for a positive presentation of Slovenia, which instead turned into a big minus in the international public. A pity!” In the video that has since made rounds online, the President can be seen telling those who disagreed that “if you don’t want to listen to me, you can go outside.”
The speech may even have been planned
MEP Zver pointed out that the President’s speech followed the wave of some European countries advocating sanctions against Israel and suggested that this could have been planned and coordinated, perhaps even with the knowledge of European Commissioner Marta Kos.
“If the European Union accepts this, then it has not put itself on the right side of history,” he warned. Although he does not expect any immediate consequences, he believes that Slovenia has lost its reputation as a result of this speech. Compared to former President Borut Pahor, who, according to Zver, chose his words more deliberately, Pirc Musar’s approach did not reflect the expected statesmanship, but polarised and disappointed the majority of the Parliament.
A. H.
