The year 2022 was coming to an end when the Milović affair broke out. The latter was introduced by Golob as a security adviser, and it was on his advice that the Prime Minister changed his personal security system. “He was advising me as a private person whom I knew from my past, there was no contract and no employment relationship was ever concluded in the government structure, and no, nobody is paying him for favours from anywhere else,” the Prime Minister said at the time. Today, we know that this is a lie. Milović had seven different contracts with the company that was run by Robert Golob before he entered politics. We spoke to former Interior Minister Vinko Gorenak about the case in question. He says that Milović is just another disgruntled police officer with a failed career in the police who then fell into political waters. In addition, Gorenak also exposed Golob’s lies, and more.
A while ago, Prime Minister Robert Golob had the opportunity to explain his highly controversial concept of security in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia: “Why did you adopt such a regulation for the protection of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia? Is this regulation a show of distrust in the Slovenian police? Do you know Miloš Milović? If yes, what is your relationship with him? Is it true that he is the one who is unofficially in charge of your protection? And one last question, Mr Prime Minister: is a para-intelligence service being set up in the Republic of Slovenia during your term of office, in 2022?” asked MP Žan Mahnič from the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS).
The Prime Minister began by saying that he fully trusts the then-Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar, and that there was no question of mistrust in the police. A little later, this turned out to be a lie. The truth was revealed by Interior Minister Bobnar and Acting Director-General of Police Boštjan Lindav, each in their own public letter. Golob then said about his security that it is “Exactly the same or almost the same as the system, which was already in place in the General Secretariat in the past, which was responsible for protecting the government during the term of the former Prime Minister – the late Dr Janez Drnovšek.” This is also a blatant lie.
Vinko Gorenak, former Minister of the Interior, said: “Golob is referring to the fact that he is being protected by the General Secretariat of the Government, to which the police officers have been transferred, and that Dr Janez Drnovšek already had this form of protection. This is a blatant lie. I was head of the police personnel department at the time, and I know what it was like. Dr Janez Drnovšek and his Cabinet did indeed choose their own security guards, but they were police officers, subordinate to the Chief of Police and never to Dr Janez Drnovšek and his Cabinet.”
Another in a long line of operatives
Gorenak pointed out that Milović is just one of the people who failed to make a career in the police and then sought refuge in politics. “We should not forget that there have been similar cases in the past, as many as you want, from Mitja Klavor, Drago Kos, Goran Klemenčič, Darko Stare, and many more,” Gorenak stated.
He further explained that such supposed top police experts have always been welcomed by successive prime ministers and ministers alike. As Gorenak argued, as a rule, they are not actual experts but are merely looking for “money or other privileges” that can be provided by politicians in power.
“In this respect, Miloš Njegoslav Milović is no exception, but rather an old copy of his predecessors. It is now more or less clear that Milović has made a great fortune over the last ten years or more through numerous contracts with the Gen-I energy company (which Golob used to run) and other companies in the electricity sector. What is even more horrifying is the fact that Milović is not a civil servant, that he is not paid by Golob or his ministers, but that Milović can apparently dictate to the police chief (Lindav) how Prime Minister Golob will be protected,” said the former Interior Minister.
A vote of no confidence for the police
Gorenak also commented on Golob’s evasiveness on the issue of trust in the police. The latter had said that he trusted the Interior Minister, which turned out to be a lie, or he was just extremely short-sighted. He then stated that he had decided to change the concept of security because photographs of his children had appeared on the internet, allegedly taken when they had travelled with him on a business trip to Brussels. At the time, police officers replied: “The accusation that this incident proves that the Slovenian security police officers do not deserve to enjoy the trust of officials shows a complete lack of knowledge of the work and responsibilities of security police officers.” The Prime Minister’s claims were further refuted by Lindav, who wrote that the meetings about a different form of security for the Prime Minister had already taken place on the 3rd and the 9th of June.
Gorenak, in his reply to our journalists’ questions, also confirmed that this was a vote of no confidence for the police. “What we have today, the fact that Golob is being protected by people who were police officers and are now employees of the General Secretariat of the Government, is something we have never seen before. This is at the same time a complete vote of no confidence from Golob against the entire police force,” he wrote.
What do the members of the coalition think of all of this?
As this is an extremely sensitive issue, we also asked the coalition Left party (Levica) and Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD) to comment on the matter. The latter, in particular, have been especially critical of Golob’s political interventions (read: the Bobnar/Lindav affair) in the police, while – interestingly – the President of the Social Democrats party is a personal friend of Milović, as evidenced by a photo that appeared online some time ago. These are the questions we have addressed to both parties:
– How do you comment on the recently disclosed information about Gen-I’s cooperation with the company VPS svetovanje (VPS Consulting), founded by Miloš Njegoslav Milović, the man who proposed to Robert Golob to reorganise his security, although he is not an employee of any state-owned company?
– Were you aware of Milović’s role in “advising” Robert Golob and some ministries on security at the time when the Prime Minister was asked about this matter by SDS MP Žan Mahnič in the National Assembly in December 2022 about the Prime Minister’s connection to Milović?
– Did you, as coalition partners, agree with Golob’s decision to entrust the security of some ministries to Milović? Did you agree to this despite his allegedly controversial (criminal) past?
– It is known that Milović advised the Minister of Health, Danijel Bešič Loredan, to change the location of his office, has he also advised you so far? Did you cooperate with Milović in any way during your term of office?
– How do you comment on the fact that the state-owned company Gen-I transferred 130,000 euros to the former company of today’s Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda), Vesna Vuković, who has not disclosed the content of the contracts she had with Gen-I to this day?
– How do you comment on her ‘ascension’ to such a high position in the party after Golob’s victory, knowing that she and Golob had a business relationship for reasons that are still unknown today? Keep in mind that Vesna Vuković was a journalist for the Necenzurirano (Uncensored) web portal, which was already adoring Golob before the national elections.
Gal Kovač
