After the New Year, the Baščaršija Etno Hiša restaurant published a photo of Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković, restaurant manager Aljoša Marković, and Prime Minister Robert Golob sitting at a table in their establishment.
Before his election, Prime Minister Robert Golob had already claimed that there was too much meat consumption in Slovenia and proposed to limit it. “Livestock farming and meat consumption are too high. And just one or two days without meat, if we really address them, will solve in a short time precisely this shortage of fodder,” he said in the pre-election debates concerning the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
But Golob did not stop there. In December 2022, he launched the Strategic Council for Food to “develop proposals and measures to better provide citizens with affordable, quality and safe food that also has the least possible negative impact on human health, the environment and the climate.” Last year, the latter came up with a proposal to offer children in kindergartens and schools the option of a plant-based or vegan menu. Paediatricians, who were also critical of the composition of the Council, opposed the proposal, adding that it would not have a positive impact on children’s health, but could instead have the exact opposite effect.
Double standards on veganism and taxes
Golob also spoke about his enthusiasm for a vegan diet at the Bled Strategic Forum, where he told a large audience and some foreign guests that veganism has such healing effects that it has even cured his asthma. The health profession was very surprised by the Prime Minister’s statements, and they pointed out that curing asthma is a more complex process than a blanket rant about a vegan diet. “The Prime Minister says in front of the whole world that he cured his asthma because he does not eat meat and that doctors do not believe him. The doctors believe him that he is in remission. Unfortunately, that does not make him special, although he is convinced that he is,” was the reply of Igor Mužević, a doctor, at the time.
In light of the Prime Minister’s enthusiasm for veganism, which is also shared by his partner, it is really strange to see Golob sitting so happily next to the Mayor of Ljubljana in front of a table full of meat delicacies. This is not the first time that our Prime Minister said one thing but then turned around and did another. Let us just remind you of how the Prime Minister publicly announced that those who earn more should also pay more tax. But now he is sitting next to Janković, whose family has had 45 million euros of debts written off.
Namely, the court wrote off the debts of the Janković family in two tranches. The first one was in 2017, when the government was led by Miro Cerar. The second, larger write-off took place two years later, when Janković’s former political partner Marjan Šarec was in charge of the government. Šarec was initially a member of the Positive Slovenia party (Pozitivna Slovenija), which was founded by Janković. In 2017, the Ljubljana District Court granted a waiver of debts to Electa Inženiring, the core company of the Janković family’s business network. Electa Inženiring was also the first company in the Electa Holding group to go into a compulsory settlement. Electa Naložbe followed. Two years later, the debts were written off to the umbrella company Electa Holding, amounting to 95 percent of the total debts. The total write-off for all three Janković companies amounted to almost 29 million euros.
It is well-known who is giving advice to whom
The smiles on Janković and Golob’s faces at the meal suggest that they more than enjoyed each other’s company. The fact that Golob enjoys the visible support of the Mayor of Ljubljana has been known since the founding congress of the leading Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda). Since then, Zoran Janković has repeatedly expressed his support for the Prime Minister and praised his way of governing, which, in practice, has not produced any visible results except for putting additional burdens on the people and the economy. But we all know who it is that is giving advice to whom in this situation.
It is also worth noting how Golob, when he was still vice-president of the Positive Slovenia party founded by Janković, used to talk about the importance of Janković. “If we compare figures, let’s say that I am the knight because I like to jump uncontrollably left and right. Then our Zoran Janković, our President, he is not a king that we have to defend at all costs, he is the queen, he is our strongest weapon, and if we are aware of that, we can plan future actions,” Golob said a few years ago.
Some people already pointed out before his election that Golob is not actually a “new face” in Slovenian elections even before his election – namely, Deputy Mayor of Žiri and member of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), Nejc Brence, warned at the time that the mafia is once again trying to get its own “new face” to a position, who will defend the mafia underworld against changes that threaten their privileges. Unfortunately, people still elected Golob.
A. H.
