The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which began on the 1st of July this year, is slowly coming to an end. Despite the fact that throughout the Presidency, members of the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition – meaning, the left-wing part of the opposition – tried to give the impression that the government is incapable of leading the European Union and that its methods of governing cast a bad light on the country’s reputation, the European Commissioners’ statements show that the left’s exporting of the false claims has had no effect. Namely, we have heard nothing but praise from the European Commissioners, which shows that having previous experience in presiding over the European Union definitely counts. “Well, one will find it hard to hear about this from the national media outlet RTV Slovenia or from the commercial TV station’s news show 24ur, so it is almost necessary for you to follow comprehensive reporting on what is happening on the website of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia,” said Director of the Government Communication Office, Uroš Urbanija.
Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said that excellent organisation and cooperation with the European Union had been apparent since the beginning of Slovenia’s Presidency. “And therefore, I want to thank you, Simona, for your commitment to what you believe in. Thank you for your energy and your visionary approach,” she said to our Minister of Education, Science and Sport, Simona Kustec.
On one occasion, European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, expressed her approval of the way the Slovenian Minister of Infrastructure, Jernej Vrtovec, and his team, work. “First of all, I would like to thank you, Jernej, and your excellent team, for leading the work for the Council in the last six months,” she said.
And the Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, is also clearly satisfied with the way Vrtovec’s team and the entire Slovenian Presidency worked. “At this point, I would like to commend the Slovenian Presidency. Because of the Slovenian Presidency, I was able to negotiate on behalf of the entire EU.”
Many people from the left-wing political pole may wonder how it is possible that even Timmermans expressed his satisfaction with the Slovenian Presidency after he refused to take group photos with our government team in Brdo pri Kranju in July this year. Namely, he did not like the fact that Prime Minister Janez Janša publicly showed a photo of the SD party’s picnic at the meeting, where, in addition to two MEPs from the SD party, Tanja Fajon and Milan Brglez, there were also several judges present, which clearly proves that our judicial system is closely connected to the SD party. Apparently, however, some have realised that exporting lies is one thing, and practice is another.
The fact is that Janez Janša and his government already have experience in leading the European Council. As they were successful the first time, Slovenia enjoyed a great reputation in the international community. Although the reputation has been wasted under left-wing governments and a bunch of “concerned” messages have been sent to Brussels recently, the commissioners’ statements are more than telling. It is, however, still unfortunate that the Constitutional Arch Coalition members did not contribute to this story of success, as they did not choose the role of a constructive opposition but instead played the role of a destructive one, destroying everything in their path. And in doing so, they did not care in the least if Slovenia’s reputation suffered due to this.
