The Chairwoman of the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group of the European Parliament, Sophie in ‘t Veld, is visiting Slovenia in the upcoming days, as part of a fact-finding mission, in order to get a “complete and comprehensive picture of both sides,” so, in order to finally see what is really going on in Slovenia. On Wednesday, she will meet with representatives of different non-governmental organisations, such as Amnesty International, CNVOS – Institute for Informing, Cooperation and Development of Non-Governmental Organisations, the Peace Institute (Mirovni Inštitut), the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy (Pravna mreža za varstvo demokracije) and Info Kolpa. A complete and comprehensive picture of which two sides are we talking about here – the left and a little more left?
Slovenia is not yet where Hungary is, but there are reasons for concern, the Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, Sophie in ‘t Veld, said in an interview with the Slovenian Press Agency. The group will soon visit Slovenia, and the MEP also hopes to meet with Prime Minister Janez Janša. In ‘t Veld comes from the ranks of liberals (the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament), just like her Slovenian colleagues Irena Joveva and Klemen Grošelj. Her visit to Slovenia will take place between the 13th and 15th of October. According to the Slovenian Press Agency, the MEP said that the purpose of her visit was “to get a complete and comprehensive picture of all sides /…/ and to hear what is really happening in Slovenia.” The main question is, of course, if she will actually try to get a complete picture of all sides – let us remind you that, for example, she did not want to watch the video that the Prime Minister had prepared and wanted to show in the European Parliament.
Members of the group supposedly have a “very busy schedule,” as several meetings with different people are planned, from government representatives to journalists, representatives of the non-government organisations, and also talks with the human rights ombudsman, the prosecutors, and others. Our press agency wrote that the group has been closely monitoring the situation in Slovenia and obtaining information from various sources. Which is almost certainly not true, as it is well-known who the actual sources who report “on the situation in Slovenia” to foreign countries really are, and we already know in what ways they have been presenting the situation so far. The MEP wants to make sure that Slovenia does not enter the phase in which Hungary and Poland are currently – she is worried that Prime Minister Janša is following the example of Viktor Orban. From the programme of the visit that we have received, we can see that Sophie in ‘t Veld will meet with representatives of some non-governmental organisations on Wednesday – and according to the list of invitees, the result of the visit could practically be announced in advance.
First stop: the Peace Institute
We have already written a lot about the Peace Institute (Mirovni inštitut). Among other things, it is considered a “strategic centre” for the consolidation of Marxism, communism, anti-family ideologies, the spreading of so-called reproductive rights, and LGBTQ radical interests. Ever since its establishment on the 24th of April 1991, the institute has been receiving lots of money from public funds – so, from the taxpayers. In the past, we have also reported on the fact that according to the web programme Supervisor, from 2003 to 2017 alone, they received an incredible 2,335,096.89 euros from the Slovenian budget resources. And European budget resources, to which Slovenians also contribute, are not even included in this. In the period from 2003 to 2020, the Peace Institute received the largest amount of money from the Slovenian Research Agency – namely, they received the amount of 2,622,867.39 euros. Among other financers of the Peace Institute from the same period are also the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (464,365.93 euros), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (400,161.28 euros), Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (378,289.33 euros), and Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (374,602.14 euros). We should also add that the Peace Institute has teamed up with George Soros’s Open Society, which the director of the institute, Dr Iztok Šorli, denied and said that the institute was created completely separately from the Open Society. However, the Peace Institute received long-term institutional support from the Open Society Foundations from the year 2001 to 2014, but they are said to still have regular contacts with the foundation.
Second stop: Supporters of the protesters
The Institute for Informing, Cooperation and Development of Non-Governmental Organisations (Zavod center za informiranje, sodelovanje in razvoj nevladnih organizacij – CNVOS) is also among the most prominent recipients of budget funds. From 2009 to 2019, they received 3,321,085 euros from the state budget and an additional 174,091.09 euros from the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Public Administration also allocated 1,624,234.67 euros to them. CNVOS is the umbrella network of Slovenian non-governmental organisations. They bring together more than 1,400 different associations and individual societies, institutes, and institutions. “Based on our knowledge and experience, our experts in fields of advocacy, law, project management, finance and communication provide the Slovenian non-governmental sector with comprehensive and professional expert support, while also fostering its potentials and encouraging creative and critical thought,” reads the description on their website.
We have also previously reported on the views of this particular organisation. When Goran Forbici, the director of CNVOS, was invited to a meeting with the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, his response was that “it is better to go to protests than to meetings.” Forbici is considered to be an activist of the SD party who likes to engage in actions against the SDS party. He even sent a pamphlet against the SDS party to as many as 30,000 e-mail addresses and warned the addressees of the consequences that Janez Janša’s victory in the elections would bring them.
Third stop: Legal network with feminist members
The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy (Pravna mreža za varstvo demokracije) emerged during the epidemic, and not much is known about it. From their website, we can learn that they protect a democratic, open, free and solidary society with their legal knowledge. This is an initiative that offers legal support to individuals and organisations that find themselves in legal proceedings due to non-violent public actions. The website also includes a legal blog, and the first article was written by constitutional lawyer Dr Igor Vuksanović, who is known to have had a lot to say against Janša and his SDS party in the past, as well as against Rado Pezdir. It is also clear from many cases that the Legal Network is very anti-government oriented. It goes after anyone who has any sort of connection with the SDS party – in December 2020, for example, one of the co-founders of the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy addressed an initiative to the Advocate for Equal Opportunities to discuss the article Presežki5 by the author Aleksander Škorc, which was published in the magazine Demokracija, the editor-in-chief of which is Jože Biščak. The article was a piece of satire and not a public incitement of hatred or anything like that. Who exactly are the members of the Legal Network, and how the network is funded is not entirely clear. However, some time ago, our former colleague revealed that Mihael Karner was among the network’s financers and that the organisation was allegedly controlled by the law firms Senica, Čad and Keranovič.
Fourth stop: Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation that is supposed to fight for the protection of human rights. Obviously, this cannot be said for the Slovenian Amnesty International – when the current government took office, their post on Twitter proved that they find violent behaviour at the illegal protests, where death threats were made against the Prime Minister, completely acceptable. “All over the world, Amnesty International fights against violence; it is only Amnesty International Slovenia that supports and encourages it with banners that threaten with death,” the Prime Minister commented on their post.
The organisation proved that they are not in favour of the current government again, with a later post – with the approval of the third anti-corona legislative package, they published a petition called We Are Not Letting You Take Away Nature, which supported environmental extremists. The director of the non-governmental organisation in question, Nataša Posel, also published a photo on one of the social networks, with the caption “I am cycling for nature.” Amnesty International operates globally, so it is also supposed to be financed globally, but the web application Erar shows that it is also receiving money from the state. In September, the Ministry of Finance transferred a little over 50 thousand euros to the organisation.
Fifth stop: Pro-migrant organisation
Well, with the organisation Info Kolpa, it is also not difficult to figure out what they will probably say to the MEP in ‘t Veld. This is a public initiative or an organisation that belongs to the Border Violence Monitoring Network, which was established in 2016 in response to the increasing number of asylum seekers in the Balkans and Greece who were being sent back to their countries of origin. They highlight police violence against migrants and repressive practices of state institutions – including Slovenian ones. According to Info Kolpa’s posts on their social network profiles, they are not exactly fans of the current government, and they especially dislike the current Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs. The Border Violence Monitoring Network is funded by donations from supporters and foundations – including the Open Society Foundation and the European Programme for Integration and Migration.
And in the end, the non-governmental organisation Civil Initiative Ilirska Bistrica, led by Borut Rojc, a former member of the Social Democrats, will provide some “balance.” Rojc’s worldview is also left-wing, but at least he is not ideologically blinded and corrupt. The five-to-one ratio, however, does not exactly promise a democratic debate, so it is clear just how “complete and comprehensive” the picture will be that Sophie in ‘t Veld will get from the NGOs. As many as five of them are strongly anti-government and have a strong desire for state funds, so they will do everything in their power to send the most harmful information possible about the Slovenian government to the world.
Sara Bertoncelj
