The left in the European Parliament wants to criminalize center-right governments, Milan Zver told Magyar Hírlap.
A delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Fundamental Rights visited Ljubljana. Milan Zver, a member of the European Parliament for the Slovenian ruling party, told the Hungarian daily Magyar Hírlapthat he did not expect a balanced assessment.
A delegation from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT), led by Dutch Liberal Sophie in ‘t Veld, has been discussing the rule of law in Slovenia in recent days. The delegation was not received by Prime Minister Janez Janša, who caused a stir in Brussels when he described some MEPs, including Sophie in ‘t Veld, as puppets of Soros.
At a press conference in Ljubljana yesterday, the Dutch politician said that state institutions are working well, but criticized the hostile and aggressive nature of the political discourse, which he said undermines trust in institutions. Sophie in ‘t Veld said that politics has divided Slovenia into two camps and that a dialogue of the deaf is taking place. Several journalists asked the Dutch politician why the talks were mainly with leftists, but in ‘t Veld insisted that the program was balanced.
Milan Zver, MEP from the ruling Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), told our newspaper that he had no hope that the LIBE visit would be of any use to anyone. He recalled that it was clear from the outset that they did not want to objectively investigate the situation of the Slovenian media, but wanted to cause political damage to the Slovenian government.
The MEP expects a very one-sided report that will have no significant impact on Slovenian domestic politics, but could be another step towards “criminalising centre-right governments in the EU”, which has been a goal of the EP left for years. He said he personally had nothing against objective and thorough investigations into the situation of the Slovenian media. In fact, such analyses would show that more than 80 percent of the Slovenian media are owned by left-wing structures, that there is considerable asymmetry and that ownership is unlawfully concentrated in the hands of certain left-wing press magnates.
The delegation also included Nicolaus Fest of the Alternative for Germany, who told us that no systematic violations of the rule of law were found during the trip, although there are shortcomings in the judiciary, in the fight against corruption and in data protection, as well as a highly divided society and a low level of discourse on Twitter. He added that sanctions were not justified until the EU institutions wanted to play “supranational nanny”.
This article first appeared on MAGYAR HÍRLAP, our partner in EUROPEAN MEDIA COOPERATION.
