After a long time, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Franc Kangler, published a new video. As he says, he is absolutely appalled by the fact that on Val 202, a radio station of the national media outlet RTV Slovenia, they are talking about the protests that took place in Maribor in 2012, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence. “You are bringing back memories, you are reviving hatred, spreading unrest. How are you not ashamed? You are promoting protests before the 30th anniversary of our independence?!” Kangler was critical.
In a new video message published on his Facebook page, Franc Kangler wonders whether Val 202 really finds these protests that interesting at the occasion of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Slovenian state. “And then I hear Boris Vezjak lie about how Janez Janša told me to resign (as the Mayor of Maribor). Why did you not invite me to the show, so I could have told you the truth? Dear Val 202 employees, why? You only invited the leftists in your studio, and before the 30th anniversary of our independence and the celebration that lies ahead of us, you are once again promoting protests?” Franc Kangler asks in the video.
“On the 30th anniversary of our independent state, they ask Dr. Vezjak to come on their show, an ultra-leftist from Maribor, and the topic of conversation are the protests that happened in Maribor in 2012. Are you not ashamed, Val 202? Are these protests really that interesting to you, on the 30th anniversary of our independence? And then I hear Boris Vezjak lie about how Janez Janša told me to resign (as the Mayor of Maribor). Why did you not invite me to the show, so I could have told you the truth? Dear Val 202 employees, why? You only invited the leftists in your studio, and before the 30th anniversary of our independence and the celebration that lies ahead of us, you are once again promoting protests? You are bringing back memories, you are reviving hatred, spreading unrest. How are you not ashamed?” Kangler pointed out and also told Vezjak that he resigned as the mayor of Maribor only because those who led the protests in Maribor were planning to kill a police officer.
When Kangler learned that the protesters wanted to kill a police officer, he decided that the life of one police officer is worth so much more than his mayoral position. “In case Mr. Vezjak wants to know the truth, during the protests, the then-president of the SD party, Igor Lukšič, called me, and he tried to persuade me to not resign because these protests could then spread to companies as well.”
Police even found explosives near the Franciscan Church in Maribor. “Why did the police officers stay quiet about this at the time? Because the leadership was deeply involved in organising the protests. Today, on the 30th anniversary, you are coming after us. After those who fought for our own state in 1991. My brother and I were both willing to die for this country. Today, however, this radio station, which we all pay for, is spreading bullshit about me. Is that fair?” Kangler was critical, unable to understand why he was not invited to come on the show as a guest when the Maribor protests were being discussed. Kangler is annoyed because it seems that Val 202 has no problem inviting guests who were against independence and wanted the Yugoslav People’s Army to rule us. “You should be ashamed of yourselves. I felt hurt when I listened to that.”
Kangler was also upset because he was not invited to come on the show Tarča (Target) on the public television RTV Slovenia. “I am being prosecuted for a 40-year-old tractor; everyone is asking how I bought it; I am being prosecuted for 500 euros, which I transferred to my daughter. In Ljubljana, however, you have gentlemen to whom 30 to 50 million euros of debt are written off, who steal with a capital S, but you keep quiet about that. Really quiet. I have not heard of one show about the debts being written off. I do not listen to you anyway because I simply can’t. You are anti-government. I am part of the government myself, but I have the right to freedom of speech, and I have the right to tell you the actual truth. You can have the media, you can lie, you can put us behind bars. If we weren’t intimidated by the tanks filled with rifles in 1991, we will not be intimidated by you either. Long live the free and just Slovenia,” Kangler was clear.
Nina Žoher, E-Maribor
