On Tuesday, shortly before 6 p.m., an Eritrean citizen seriously injured a girl with a sharp object in the centre of Ljubljana and then fled the scene on foot. According to the police, the girl was taken to the Ljubljana University Medical Centre in an ambulance, and her life is in danger. What can the Minister of the Interior, Tatjana Bobnar, who only recently – during the (otherwise clearly unjustified) successful interpellation – boldly claimed that “the Slovenian police ensure a high standard of safety for the people of Slovenia” say in her defence? Is this the “high standard of security” that Bobnar was talking about? And with all this, it should also be pointed out that this is only the beginning.
As we recently reported, initially according to unofficial information, the police have now confirmed that on Tuesday evening, an Eritrean citizen seriously injured a girl, who is currently fighting for her life in the Ljubljana University Medical Centre. The man stabbed her with a sharp object in the centre of Ljubljana, in front of the popular Parlament Pub (Parliament Pub) on Šubičeva Street. Given that the current Minister of the Interior is extremely pro-migrant and pro-migration policy, and that her policy advocates open borders, the big question here is whether Bobnar is actually aware of the risk of opening Slovenia’s borders by removing the fence, or whether she is even competent to do the job of Minister of the Interior. Many, including Anja Bah Žibert, an MP from the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), are of the opinion that she should resign so that such things would not happen again. We have also sent some questions about the situation mentioned above to the Ministry of the Interior but have not received any answers yet.
The Ljubljana Police Directorate informed us that shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, they were informed of a suspected crime against life and body in the centre of Ljubljana. According to the information provided, an Eritrean national who has been residing in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia for several years assaulted a girl with a sharp object. She was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and her life is in danger. Several patrols were deployed to the scene, and the suspect was arrested and taken into custody shortly after the incident. The police conducted a search of the crime scene, and officers are continuing to gather information on all the circumstances of the crime.
The motive for the attack is not yet known
Footage of the evening’s drama soon emerged on social media, showing ambulances and police vehicles arriving at the scene only minutes after the horrific attack. They were parked at the intersection of Šubičeva Street, which leads to the building of the National Assembly, and Slovenska Street, which runs parallel to Congress Square. The location of the attack – the Parlament Pub, is a popular gathering place for young people in Ljubljana and is frequented all days of the week. According to the police, the motive for the crime is not yet known, but it has been stated that the suspect and the girl knew each other before and that they came from the same social background. The police have also stated that the suspect has been tried for violent offences in the past.
How will Interior Minister Bobnar defend herself?
Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar’s open-door policy and the active removal of the fence on the border with Croatia has created a tsunami on Slovenia’s southern border, leading police officers to record an alarming 22,000 illegal border crossings in November alone. Many of these migrants remain in Slovenia, and any talk of their difficulties in adapting to the local environment is actively being silenced by the mainstream media.
It is also worth noting that in her interpellation, Bobnar rejected all accusations related to the removal of the fence on the Southern border and the subsequent endangering of the safety of citizens, saying that the arguments are on her side and that the police were ensuring the safety of all citizens, not to mention that the coalition MPs even congratulated the Minister for removing the fence on the border, thus making “a great civilisational advance, while welcoming the fact that the Minister is creating a new paradigm in the treatment of refugees.” “The Slovenian police provide security for all citizens, to claim anything else is a manipulation,” she said, which more than obviously turned out to be nothing more than empty words and justification for what happened in the centre of Ljubljana.
“What we could understand from Minister Bobnar’s defence at the interpellation on Monday is that this can be a consequence of the cultural enrichment and the realisation of human rights. It is time for the Government of the Republic of Slovenia to stop treating migration from the perspective of cultural Marxism and protect Slovenia,” former Prime Minister Janez Janša also responded to Tuesday’s attack with accusations against Golob’s government and the Ministry of the Interior.
The removal of the fence was clearly unjustified
The only one to present clear arguments at the interpellation was SDS MP Branko Grims, who actually presented and argued his views on the basis of facts and figures, which show that the number of illegal border crossings in Slovenia has been increasing recently, as have the numbers of asylum applications. “Her own police proved that she is lying, who have stated very clearly in their latest reports on the number of border crossings that the drastic increase in asylum applications shows that the asylum system in Slovenia is being abused,” said Grims.
Border fences are effective in curbing illegal border crossings, he added. The Minister is also being accused of failing to fulfil her duty to prepare expert opinions before starting the removal of the protective fence at the southern border and of misleading the public in this respect. Grims also pointed out that the removal of the fence was justified by supposed expert analysis, which, he said, does not actually exist. “Such an analysis was carried out, though, and it showed that the fence was necessary – in fact, it should even have been upgraded.”
MP Anja Bah Žibert also believes that Minister Bobnar should resign and that the interpellation of the Minister of the Interior failed only because of the coalition’s steamrolling, but the Minister’s unacceptable and harmful actions still remain despite that. “These actions are the reason why she should leave!” Bah Žibert believes, who is also convinced that the interpellation of Minister Bobnar was justified. If the majority of the National Assembly were committed to upholding the Constitution and the law, the Minister should have been dismissed.
We also contacted the Ministry of the Interior with some questions about Tuesday’s attack – namely, we wanted to know the following:
- How does the Minister of the Interior comment on the attack on a Slovenian citizen by an Eritrean?
- How does the Minister of the Interior comment on her claim that “Slovenian police provide security, to claim anything else is a manipulation” following these recent events?
- Is the Minister of the Interior still in favour of opening the border by removing the fence, despite this attack?
- Can the Minister guarantee that something like this will not happen again in the future, and how will she ensure that it will not happen again?
- Does the Minister of the Interior care more about a “friendly policy” towards migrants than the safety of Slovenian citizens?
- Given that security has not been guaranteed, which is what she promised the citizens and residents, is she considering resigning?
This is a serious threat to citizens
It should be pointed out that Bobnar was present at the time of the erection of the security fences at the southern border and even agreed with it, but today, according to the MP mentioned above, she is – surprisingly – against it. This is not just a question of credibility but of knowingly putting citizens at serious risk. Frontex notes that this year, there are 73 percent more unauthorised border crossings than in the same period last year, and the number has been the highest since 2016. The situation is the worst on the so-called Balkan route. By the end of September, there had been as many as 16,000 illegal crossings of our borders.
Tuesday’s attack, which is only the first, and who knows how many more will follow, confirms that the safety of Slovenian citizens is seriously at risk. Such attacks happen all the time in other European countries, and if we were only reading about them until recently, they are now becoming part of our reality. And as MP Bah Žibert said, “this government has two faces. While Fajon talks abroad about how border controls are needed because of the increase in the number of migrants, at home, Bobnar is literally calling on them to come by removing the fence!”
Tanja Brkić
