Apparently, some people really cannot come to terms with the fact that a left-wing government is not in power, so they are resorting to the well-known modus operandi. According to the Slovenian Press Agency, a group of 166 “seriously concerned” citizens decided to write to Brussels and call on it to stan up for democracy in Slovenia. However, if we take a look at who the signatories are, who are trying to create the impression of living in a dictatorship similar to North Korea, we can see that these are, in fact, very privileged people like Spomenka Hribar, Vlado Miheljak, Boris A. Novak and Slavko Splichal. After realising that, it is not difficult to figure out what their true intentions are.
In the bizarre letter addressed to the presidents of the central institutions of the European Union, the signatories warned that Slovenian democracy is at stake and asked Brussels not to turn a blind eye on us. “Should the European Union remain too lenient, this display of inaction will undermine the very values and democratic principles upon which the Union was founded,” they wrote, according to the Slovenian Press Agency (Slovenska tiskovna agencija – hereinafter referred to as the STA).
Among other things, in the style of Tanja Fajon, they also expressed concern over our shared European future under Slovenia’s Presidency of the European Union. They believe that at a symbolic level, Slovenia’s presidency would harm and tarnish the Union’s professed commitment to core democratic values. The STA does not report on the names of all of the concerned signatories. However, the list of signatories (according to the Forum for Democracy, there are as many as 167) includes Rudi Rizman, Jernej Amon Prodnik, Spomenka Hribar, Vlado Miheljak, Boris A. Novak, Slavko Splichal and Milena Zupančič. “American intellectual Noah Chomsky also expressed his support for the letter,” the STA states.
Not much else is known about the content of the letter, but given that it is just another one of the many letters, coming from the privileged representatives of the left, who do not like the current centre-right authorities, it is likely just a repeat of the same phrases about how human rights, media freedom and other things are supposedly being violated in Slovenia. However, since the reality is completely different, it is better if the left-wing’s in-house press agency – the STA – does not disclose much of the content itself. This would only embarrass the signatories, as the citizens know what the real situation in the country is like. Anyone who follows the public media outlet RTV Slovenia and the mainstream media can see that they are trying to settle the score with the government on a daily basis, so it is really bizarre and absurd for anyone to claim that Slovenia is experiencing a dictatorship.
The STA has clear priorities for its reporting
Of course, it is not surprising that the STA reported on the letter. The VIP guests at the celebration of the agency’s 30th anniversary were people like the last President of the Communist Party of Slovenia, Milan Kučan, former President of the Republic of Slovenia Danilo Türk, and President of the Court of Audit, Tomaž Vesel, which if proof for how the STA decides on its reporting priorities. If the government is being slandered, it is imperative that this is reported on, even if only with a few sentences. Especially because this time, one of the signatories is also the passionate anti-Janšaist and the last party boss Kučan’s favourite, Spomenka Hribar, who was recently awarded the title of honorary citizen of the City of Ljubljana by the Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković. In the past, Hribar said that she supported the work of the government of Marjan Šarec, as in her opinion, despite the fact that it was a minority government, it still somehow worked.
Boris A. Novak was also among Jenull’s protesters
Slovenian playwright and essayist Boris A. Novak has repeatedly attacked the current government. He was the first signatory of the demand written by the seven representatives of the Slovenian PEN Club, where they stated, in fear of losing their privileges: “Appropriate state bodies must ensure a dignified life for the artists, scientists, intellectuals, as the future of our society to a large extent depends on them.” In the left-wing weekly magazine Mladina, he wrote that Slovenia is supposedly becoming more and more similar to the satellite Weimar Republic: “The leading politicians of this Weimar under the Alps are opening the doors of the control levers of the democratic social order to the paramilitary mob, and the future ministers of Orban’s satellite executive are being served by the President of the Republic, dressed as an obedient and well-dressed altar boy.” Given that we have often seen Novak on the anti-government protests, his signature is really not the least surprising.
The privileged “concerned” citizens, some of them protesters, wrote a letter and sent it to Brussels
Signatories Vlado Miheljak and Slavko Splichal are professors at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana. In one of his columns in the weekly Mladina, MIheljak called for the lynching of the DeSUS and SMC deputies – at a time when the government was fighting a successful battle with the coronavirus. With this, he made it clear that the left-wing activists want to overthrow the democratically elected government and thus the rule of law. He also signed the public letter entitled “Government interventions in supervisory institutions are proof of the authoritarian rule.”
In a written statement published last May, Splichal, the full professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and a member of the journalism department, expressed concern “due to the various forms of subordination of journalism and humiliation of journalists, which have become part of everyday life with the new government.” He expressed the belief that the ruling political party was abusing the political and decision-making power. In the past, he was also the first among the signatories of a letter to the President of the Republic Borut Pahor, urging him to resign, and before that, he signed a letter opposing his second candidacy. Thus, in February of last year, it was no surprise that Splichal’s signature also appeared under a public letter, signed by the 75 privileged left-wing representatives, entitled “Let’s protect Slovenia’s sensitive democracy from the authoritarian rule!”
A list of all the signatories of the letter:
Jernej Amon Prodnik, Milica Antić Gaber, Zdenka Badovinac, Janja Batič, Marcela Batistič Zorec, Milena Mileva Blažić, Bojan Borstner, Janez Bregant, Sanja Cukut Krilić, Petra Čeferin, Sonja Černčič Lagerwall, Zdenka Čerin, Aleš Črnič, Nenad Čuš Babič, Boštjan Derganc, Mihael Dešman, Andrej Detela, Marica Dietrich, Mojca Dobnikar, Ljubica Došler Stare, Srečo Dragoš, Ivo Ercegović, Miran Erič, Sanja Fidler, Božidar Flajšman, Miha Fošnarič, Smiljana Gartner, Ivan Gerlič, Tadej Glažar, Petja Grafenauer, Tatjana Greif, Tomaž Grušovnik, Mira Hladnik, Miran Hladnik, Spomenka Hribar, Miloš Ivančič, Janez Janša, Marija Javornik, Maca Jogan, Savin Jogan, Jernej Kaluža, Božidar Kante, Simon Kardum, Žiga Kariž, Bogdan Kastelic, Dušan Keber, Friderik Klampfer, Matjaž Klemenčič, Peter Klepec, Igor Koršič, Zdenko Kodelja, Diana Koloini, Suzana Koncut, Igor Koršič, Barbara Korun, Katja Košir, Bogomir Kovač, Gorazd Kovačič, Krištof Jacek Kozak, Lev Kreft, Vlasta Kregar, Marko Lah, Tamara Lah Turnšek, Kaja Lipnik Vehovar, Janko Lozar Mrevlje, Andrej Lukšič, Matic Majcen, Marko Marinčič, Jasna Mažgon, Gašper Medvešek, Urša Menart, Metka Mencin, Jože Mencinger, Vlado Miheljak, Vinko Möderndorfer, Milan Mrđenović, Matjaž Mulej, Danilo Muršec, Rajko Muršič, Bojan Musil, Boris A. Novak, Irena Novak Popov, Tanja Oblak Črnič, Boris Ostan, Nina Ostan, Izidor Ostan Ožbolt, Alen Ožbolt, Stane Pejovnik, Ivana Petan, Iztok Peterin, Dragan Petrovec, Gašper Pirc, Jože Pirjevec, Andrej Pleterski, Dušan Plut, Jasna Podreka, Martin Pogačar, Milko Poštrak, Arjan Pregl, Martin Premk, Dušan Radonjič, Barbara Rajgelj, Nada Ravter, Danijel Rebolj, Tanja Rener, Božo Repe, Rado Riha, Rudi Rizman, Jana Rošker, Mitja Sardoč, Peter Simonič, Aleksander Skaza, Remzo Skenderović, Boris Sket, Božidar Slapšak, Svetlana Slapšak, Marjan Smrke, Brane Solce, Slavko Splichal, Zora Stančič, Boris Stanič, Maša Stanič Valentinčič, Niko Stare, Rok Stergar, Niko Šetar, Andrej Šorgo, Iztok Šori, Ivan Šprajc, Darko Štrajn, Damijan Štefanc, Martina Šuhel, Jelica Šumič Riha, Peter Tancig, Simona Tancig, Lidija Tavčar, Borut Telban, Marjan Toš, Niko Toš, Suzana Tratnik, Igor Triller, Tanja Tuma, Andrej Ule, Peter Umek, Mojca Urek, Petra Varl, Tomaž Vec, Arne Vehovar, Valerija Vendramin, Matjaž Vesel, Boris Vezjak, Aleš Vodopivec, Barbara Vodopivec, Nina Vodopivec, Lea Vrečko, Joso Vukman, Branka Wraber, Tomaž Wraber, Darij Zadnikar, Katja Zakrajšek, Anja Zalta, Simona Zavratnik, Milena Zupančič, Tomaž Zupančič, Pavel Zgaga, Igor Ž. Žagar, Beti Žerovc, Igor Žiberna.
If anyone is wondering, how is it possible that the STA wrote a shocking story about the letter that was sent to Brussels, the answer is in the palm of your hand. Namely, a handful of privileged people have constant access to the mainstream media, which they use to pressure the government and sell fabricated stories about how the current government is supposedly pressuring the media. If Brussels representatives were actually interested in the situation in Slovenia, all they had to do is watch the evening news from our country, and it would immediately be clear to them that the left is “bluffing” for the purposes of settling the internal political score. It is unfortunate, however, that the desire for power is so great that they do not care at all about slandering their homeland of Slovenia in the process, which will soon take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Sara Kovač
