If there is one thing that the people of Slovenia are united on – regardless of whether they vote for the left or the right – it is the migrant issue. No one wants the modern ideology of “open borders,” which tacitly forces countries to open their borders not only to potential seekers of international protection or asylum seekers, but to economic migrants pretending to be asylum seekers as well. The left electoral pool is even more militant around this, as it has its roots in proletarian movements seeking protection for domestic workers and industry. However, the government has to operate in a way that pleases its far-left “street,” not the ordinary voters of the left political option. Indeed, migrant issues are very uncompromisingly dictated by the coalition Left party (Levica), which forced the removal of the fence on the Croatian border last year. Now, in their “migrants welcome” policy, they have gone one step further – the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants (did you know that such a thing exists?!) has signed contracts with the providers of the Initial Integration of Migrants programme.
The Office operates as a public government department, set up by the executive to deal with migrants – but not to facilitate international protection procedures (asylum procedures), as that is not part of this government’s agenda: 90 percent of the migrants who come to our country are not eligible for international protection, as they come from safe countries such as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, which are indeed poor, but are not in a state of war or any other state of emergency. They are, therefore, almost exclusively economic migrants without the appropriate permits, who would like to get in line before the third-country workers who spend months in their own countries arranging all the necessary documentation to be allowed to stay and work in Slovenia.
According to the Slovenian Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants, contracts have now been signed with the providers of the Initial Integration of Migrants programme. The public call for tenders launched by the Office attracted more than 30 contractors, who will implement the programme in 40 locations across Slovenia. The programme is designed to teach the foreigners Slovenian and also to introduce them to Slovenian society and will last between 60 and 180 hours. The programme is free of charge for participants and takes place in small groups. Both morning and afternoon sessions will be available.
Learning Slovenian due to “Hojs’s” law on foreigners
Learning Slovenian is crucial for the integration of foreigners. Under the current legislation, from the 28th of October 2023 to the 1st of November 2024, the renewal of a temporary residence permit for an adult family member of a foreigner will be subject to the submission of a certificate of participation in a programme to learn the Slovenian language and get to know Slovenian society. This is the so-called “Hojs’s” law on foreigners, which introduced compulsory knowledge of the Slovenian language as a new condition – however, the implementation of it has been postponed by the current government until October this year.
Who is eligible for the programme?
What does a third-country national have to do to enrol in the programme? He or she must apply at the administrative unit for a permit to attend a Slovenian language course. It is not clear from the text which criteria the administrative unit will use to assess who is eligible for the course. Are asylum seekers who wait in Slovenia for years for their procedures to be resolved and then sometimes “vanish into thin air,” only to be traced years later in the crimes section of newspapers of Western European countries, also eligible for the programme? Will a potential asylum seeker be able to contribute to his asylum application being resolved positively by participating in the said programme?
What does the implementation of the programme mean for the Foreigners Act?
The amendment to the Foreigners Act adopted by the former Janša government stipulates that family members of foreigners holding a residence permit in Slovenia will be required to submit, when applying for the renewal of the permit, a certificate of having passed an examination in the Slovenian language at the required A1 level at an authorised institution in Slovenia. A1 is the so-called entry level of the language. This level is about understanding and using commonly used, everyday words and simple sentences that you need for your current needs.
It is a matter of communicating in a simple way, if the interlocutor speaks slowly and clearly. Up to now, Slovenian language exams have been administered by a number of authorised institutions within the public administration, but it looks as if the exams will now be “standardised” in the new government coalition and made into a business for private language learning companies through the Government Office, and then made into a formality that anyone can pass (up to now, foreigners have had enormous difficulties in achieving the appropriate level of language proficiency when they apply for citizenship).
Money for foreigners, but what about Slovenians?
On the other hand, the question arises: if the state has enough money for foreigners and is so concerned about their integration, why does it repeatedly run out of money for its own citizens? After all, it is in the foreigners’ own interest to learn the Slovenian language if they have chosen to live and work here. Foreigners have to take language courses abroad at their own expense. Meanwhile, the Slovenian government has run out of money even for the care of elderly Slovenian citizens: let us remind you that the current government has repealed Janša’s Long-Term Care Act, citing the fact that there were no accounting entries for such a cost.
According to the current government, there was also not enough money for labour tax relief, so from the 1st of January onward, we are all back to paying one of the highest payroll taxes in the European Union, after Janša’s income tax reform reduced the wage burden. It is more than obvious that the government’s priority is foreigners – but not Ukrainians, Moldovans, Belarusians and Georgians, but Moroccans, Tunisians, Palestinians and Egyptians – who will ensure that the left majority of the electoral pool is maintained.
Systemic importation of left-wing voters
And let’s remember that a few years ago, in a mockery of the rule of law, MPs of the Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD) and the Left party hid an illegal migrant, Ahmad Shami, from the police in the National Assembly, who eventually managed to stay in Slovenia, even though the Minister of the Interior had already signed an extradition order for him to be extradited to Croatia.
A similar case happened recently, when the Ministry of the Interior announced the deportation of asylum seekers to Croatia, and then around 70 protesters, including representatives of the ruling parties, gathered in front of the asylum centre in Ljubljana’s Vič district. In order to prevent the deportation of the two applicants for international protection, their supporters, including the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and member of the Left party, Nataša Sukič, chained the two migrants to their bodies and protected them with their own bodies.
It is also important to point out that experts in the field of border protection and migration were almost unanimous that the removal of the fence on the border with Croatia was a mistake. Nevertheless, the government, under the patronage of the extreme Left party, carried out the project. The experts’ warnings proved to be true, as the influx of illegal migration literally exploded.
It is more than obvious that this government’s tactic is to seek new voters from the Middle East, the poor countries of the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa. Immigrants vote for the left.
Andrej Žitnik
