On Thursday, the President of the Republic of Slovenia paid tribute to the victims of post-war massacres at Jama pod Macesnovo gorico, but she did so a week before the traditional ceremony organised by the New Slovenian Alliance (Nova Slovenska Zaveza) – the actual representatives of those who were murdered there. The Slovenian schism thus continues even after some representatives of the left-wing political camp are beginning to recognise the criminal nature of the events of the time.
The New Slovenian Alliance had already described Nataša Pirc Musar‘s move as “regrettable” before Thursday’s ceremony. “We see this gesture as a regrettable act, because it creates a rift between the top of the state and us, the ordinary people, those who were most affected by the mass killings and who lost their loved ones here, and for the thirty-fifth time, or this year for the thirty-sixth time, we are coming to the traditional ceremony,” they wrote.
The President of the Republic attended the ceremony at the invitation of the Ministry of Defence, despite the fact that she herself was the initiator of the ceremony. Radio Ognjišče reports that the New Slovenian Alliance sent a letter to Pirc Musar asking her “not to introduce some new, separate ceremony that will further deepen the schism,” and asked her to attend the traditional ceremony on the 7th of June at the same location. They did not receive a response, and the President of the country was apparently not convinced by the same appeal from the bishops. The last reply was received by Radio Ognjišče. She will not attend the traditional ceremony because on the 7th of June, she will attend the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Ljubelj concentration camp.
The President of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) had already responded to the President’s move on Wednesday, writing: “First, they brutally murdered them. Then, they hid and denied the crime for 50 years. When the Macesnova Gorica concealed mass grave was unearthed in spite of them, they banned the burial of the murdered Slovenians at the Žale cemetery. Now they want to steal the memory of their dead brothers from their relatives with a separate event.” He also added a hashtag with the words “the same.”
How Pirc Musar’s speech deepened the Slovenian schism
The President of the country said at the ceremony that it was not difficult for her to attend, as civilisation norms dictate that doing such a thing is correct. She also recognised that the post-war killings were a crime, as she has said many times before.
However, no matter what was said, the organisation of a separate ceremony from that organised by the representatives of the murdered, and the President’s participation in the new ceremony, continue to perpetuate the tradition of division that has arisen precisely as a result of the inter-war and post-war events. Participation in a commemorative ceremony does not serve reconciliation if those with whom reconciliation is necessary are not present at the commemoration. It only serves as virtue signalling to please oneself and the accumulation of political capital.
Ž. K.
