Rumours about the political future of the Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development, Aleksander Jevšek, have once again started circulating in the media. As we reported a few days ago, he is likely to continue his political career as the Ambassador in Sarajevo.
We reported last week that Minister Aleksander Jevšek would travel to Sarajevo in the near future. Relations between the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) and the Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD), to which Jevšek belongs, are demonstratively bad, and it is these relations that are supposed to be the trigger for the search for alternative career paths.
While the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development predictably denies the allegations of bad relations between the two coalition parties, rumours of Jevšek’s ambassadorial ambitions continue unabated. On Friday, for example, the media outlet Sobotainfo reported that Jevšek is expected to travel to Sarajevo after the end of his mandate. This is expected to happen in the second half of the year at the earliest. We checked the claims with the Ministry of Cohesion, but received only a brief reply: “Minister Dr Aleksander Jevšek does not comment on media reports.” He did not deny the allegations, though.
The candidacy procedure is secret until the host country, in this case Bosnia and Herzegovina, issues its agreement, reported the newspaper Večer.
However, the rumours have not been met with widespread public approval. The Ministry of Cohesion is not functioning well under Jevšek’s leadership. As the Secretary of the National Council pointed out on Thursday, the absorption of European Union funds is at a disastrously low level. “You have had a huge amount of EU funds in all the European programmes until 2029. I am very sorry that you do not know how to use them and that you are too slow in the procedures. That we are not able to bring one procedure, one major project to a normal conclusion in Slovenia by 2026. For two years now, since you arrived, this money has mostly been reallocated to some soft content that can be absorbed more quickly,” said Monika Kirbiš Rojs.
European Commission data also confirms the Secretary of the National Council’s assessment – namely, according to the recent data, Slovenia has been the worst among all European Union countries in terms of absorption of funds.
The public is therefore under the impression that Minister Jevšek (if he were to actually be appointed ambassador) would be rewarded for a very poor job with one of the most prestigious posts. “In Sarajevo, the future ambassador Jevšek will be a rich drain on Slovenian taxpayers’ resources,” wrote one commenter online.
Ž. K.
