“Instead of wreaking havoc on the streets and attacking healthcare workers, journalists, and police officers, you should volunteer to work at the Covid wards. Work there for a week, without any protective equipment, and prove to Slovenia that you believe in what you are saying,” Prime Minister Janez Janša said in his response to an e-mail sent by protester Zoran Stevanović, who called on the government to resign (you can read Stevanović’s e-mail in its entirety at the end of this article). Janša added that the government will not cave under their pressure and the pressure of the “godfathers” from the background.
Leader of the party Resni.ca (the Truth), Zoran Stevanović, sent an e-mail to all members of the government on Friday, calling for the abolition of the RVT condition (recovered, vaccinated, tested) and their resignation. If the government does not do what he asked of it, the protesters will bring the country to a halt on Tuesday and Wednesday with their protests, when Slovenia will host the EU-Western Balkans summit.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Janez Janša responded to Stevanović’s e-mail. At the beginning of the e-mail, he shared some epidemiological data with him, namely, that today, we have 428 patients with covid-19 recovering in Slovenian hospitals, of which 123 are in intensive care. The youngest patient is 27 years old. Yesterday, five more of our fellow citizens died because of this disease.
“You claim that there is no covid or that it is not dangerous and that the measures adopted to contain it, which are being adopted all over the world, not just in Slovenia, are unnecessary,” Janša wrote, adding that there is a simple way for the “Truth” (which is the name of Stevanović’s political party) to check how dangerous covid truly is. “Instead of wreaking havoc on the streets and attacking healthcare workers, journalists, and police officers, you should volunteer to work at the Covid wards. Work there for a week, without any protective equipment, and prove to Slovenia that you believe in what you are saying.”
The EU will not fall for the anti-vaxxers’ claims
Regarding the threats to obstruct the EU summit in Slovenia, the Prime Minister responded with the following: “The more of a scene you cause, the more the EU will understand and support the measures we will implement. Take a look around you, and you will see that there are quite a few people like you across the EU who are taking advantage of people’s distress, who are obstructing the health-related measures, creating riots, and claiming that the Earth is flat. However, it is true that the mainstream media in other countries are not making them out to be heroes. This is something that is only happening in Slovenia, which is also why we have a lower vaccination rate than the EU average, and we are paying a higher price in the fight against the epidemic.”
Nevertheless, 1,130,000 people or 63 percent of the adult population, have already been vaccinated in Slovenia until now. Among the remaining 37 percent, many have already recovered from the disease, and some cannot be vaccinated due to their special health status. Janša added that we are all being held hostage by Stevanović and others like him, who, despite being very loud, are still a distinct minority, even though they arrogantly declare themselves to be representatives of the people. “In a constitutional democracy, you can refer to the people only with the votes that the people actually give to your party at the election. Everything else is a totalitarian proto-fascist and proto-communist coup d’état. You should stop living in a fantasy, and so should your godfathers from the background – the Government of the Republic of Slovenia will not cave under these pressures.”
Opponents of the measures are causing economic damage and spreading death
The Prime Minister of Slovenia also wrote to Stevanović that it is he and other people like him who are the reason for great economic damage being created in Slovenia, resulting in higher costs for healthcare and all preventive measures, and, consequently, less money for salaries, pensions, kindergartens, schools and hospitals. Mass gatherings that they are organising, without following the RVT condition (recovered, vaccinated, tested), are helping the virus spread further throughout the country, causing illness and death. “The conduct that you are causing and even announcing or threatening us with it in advance in this letter indicates a well-founded suspicion of criminal offences, which are determined by Articles 177, 297, and 354 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Slovenia. The competent authorities are obliged to act in accordance with the law; otherwise, they themselves take part of the blame for the consequences of your actions,” Janša replied to the leader of the anti-vaxxers.
You can read Stevanović’s e-mail in its entirety below.
On Friday, the 1st of October, Stevanović wrote:
“To whom it may concern,
We have already informed you that the protests will become even bigger and have even more attendees in the future and that the people are getting angrier and angrier, even though we are calling for peace and bringing love and unity. How numerous the protests will be in the future, how much anger will be united in the people, and where the protests will take place depends entirely on you, the members of the current Government of the Republic of Slovenia.
Remember that important sessions will take place in Brdo pri Kranju (EU – Western Balkans) next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, for example, and the entire country being brought to a halt is probably not a picture you want to send to the world. You are fully responsible for what happens on the streets, squares, and the locations of the sessions.
We urge you to immediately lift the RVT conditions (recovered, vaccinated, tested) and also resign from your positions immediately. This government no longer enjoys the trust of the people. If you believe that the opposite is true, then you should have no objections to testing that trust in early elections.
Take responsibility and show that you care for the country and the people. It is not too late to show compassion and, above all, populism.
Zoran Stevanović
President of the Resni.ca party”
Sara Kovač
