The ancestors of Slovenian leftists learned about political engagement directly and indirectly through the forces of Moscow. Together with the Yugoslav communists, Slovenian communists did not learn the basics of Marxism in the Soviet Union but rather the classic terrorist methods of intimidating the civilian population.
The Communist International (Comintern) selected only the tried and tested, cold-blooded executors of the revolution for its operations in the Balkans. This was done similarly to Putin’s current way of operating. Therefore, Broz, Kardelj, Popit and Maček survived, while the Russians imprisoned the moderate Simo Marković, who then died in prison. That is also why the aggressive, even physical activism of the Slovenian left is woven into the DNA of its existence.
Guerrilla actions of 2012 and 2013
The first real guerrilla actions in the independent state of Slovenia were the popular uprisings that happened in 2012 and 2013, when groups of hooligans went to people’s homes and threatened them and also hung puppets from the Drava bridge, saying – look, this is what will happen to you soon. Back then, at a time when social networks were not yet such a decisive factor in terms of disseminating information, they even succeeded with the help of Gregor Virant. The street overthrew the legitimately elected government. Therefore, in April 2020, they also expected that the same procedure would provide the same results. It began with media agitation (the radar affair in 2012, the masks and respirators affair in 2020), then the “healthy core” of the nation occupied the street and waited until the quislings surrendered and moved to the right, just side of the revolution. However, this time, it did not work like that. More and more people saw through the increasingly transparent curtain of the Slovenian media and civil society, which, in the eyes of all, proved to be the extreme left branch of conventional left-wing parties.
Political hooligans and a scary combination
For the past two years, as the government fought its way through the most difficult period in the history of our country, a real guerrilla war was once again raging in the streets. Political hooligans took over the city every Friday, making it impossible for regular citizens to walk around Ljubljana’s old town on a Friday night. High-ranking right-wing politicians were being called fascists, threatened with caves and shootings, while the protesters also advocated for the abolition of the party system (meaning the parliamentary democracy) and capitalism (meaning private property).
However, they did not succeed in these two years. The government is still standing. Stronger and more connected than ever. That is why they want to use a special operation now, to ensure that they do not have to cycle for another four years on Fridays. Before the start of the pre-election cycle, the Research Institute of the 8th of March – Raziskovalni Inštitut 8. marec (which is, in fact, neither a research establishment nor an institute), announced that “1,300 volunteers will be sent on the ground, around Slovenia, to fight against the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) and New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi). The term “young people who will be on the ground” sounds very scary; in fact, it sounds almost Stalinist, or at least in accordance with the current times – Putinist. Slovenia and young extreme leftists, who “will convince people,” is also a frightening combination historically speaking, as we all know how things ended when young revolutionaries, such as Maček, Popit, Kardelj, Kidrič, Leskošek, and others were the ones “convincing” people.
The exclusionary rhetoric of political cyclists
Nika Kovač, the director of the Institute of the 8th of March and, through her father, a direct link with the left-wing political-academic elite, made it clear that she and the Institute would “support all parties that would not form a coalition with the SDS or NSi parties.” This is the typical exclusionary rhetoric of Friday’s political cyclists. Only this time, this is a real pre-election guerrilla march, when they will once again be going from door to door, just like they did in 2012/2013. However, their exclusive rhetoric is becoming more and more extreme every day – the government is being equated with the rise of fascism in a completely Russian manner due to its anti-corona measures, and the regular appointments of directors of public institutions are understood as an attempted coup. Of course, this is basically totalitarian rhetoric, which is trying to bring back to power “their own” proud successors of the Communists. Young people are attracted to extremist rhetoric, so the first reactions are already here. Namely, some young people are shouting at right-wing politicians and taunting them with names like “fascists.” Billboards leased by SDS or NSi are systematically desecrated with graffiti. It does not matter whether it is really the members of the Institute of the 8th of March who is doing this or not. The seed of intolerance has been sown, and now, by inertia, it is growing in all directions and sowing hatred in the minds of young people. Latent violence is also supported by the representatives of the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition (meaning, the left-wing part of the current opposition) – the public relations representative of the Social Democrats party (Socialni demokrati – SD) tweeted a picture of a poster leased by the SDS party, which was spray-painted, and wrote: “The response of the nation to the yellow and blue colours of this party. On the 24th of April 2022, we will put an end to these two colours.” These are practically death threats and threats of elimination of political opponents.
Burnt earth tactics
The Institute of the 8th of March, along with other non-governmental organisations, gathered under the umbrella organisation called Voice of the People (Glas ljudstva) has been pursuing the scorched earth tactic ever since its formal entry into the election campaign (which is, by the way, completely illegal, as they did not even open an election account, which is actually required by the Election and Referendum Campaign Act). They have drawn up a proposal for a quasi-law, with which – as they say – they want to correct the mistakes of the current, Janša government. They refuse any cooperation, not only with right-wing parties but also with any political player willing to cooperate with the right. Even the former president of the Social Democrats, Igor Lukšič, pointed out that the non-governmental organisations see their demands as a form of popular self-government, stemming from the “already lived sentiment of the life in a one-party system,” which is still present in our society. However, such demands are never a matter of reasonable debate but always a form of latent violence, manifested in intransigence, aggressive rhetoric, and a complete rejection of political pluralism. Such rebellious energy practically invites people to partake in violence and subversiveness, similar to what happened in 2013. That is why today, the posters of the SDS party are inscribed with silly graffiti messages of young revolutionaries who are being incited by Nika Kovač and her pals.
Putin’s Christmas wish list
Some of the 138 demands submitted to the parties of the left-wing pole for confirmation (most of which are copied from the programme of the Left party – Levica) also provide a glimpse into what these people – hidden behind righteous slogans – actually want. They want a referendum on Slovenia’s membership in NATO. They want to stop militarisation and limit investments in military equipment. They want to introduce a moratorium on the development of new fossil and nuclear infrastructure. This is basically Putin’s Christmas wish list of measures for Eastern Europe. The final play of Putin and our non-governmental organisations is the same – complete demilitarisation of Europe, withdrawal from NATO, dependence on Russian energy, and thus gradual military and financial capitulation. Russia has strong support on the far-left side of the political spectrum in the European Union – some of its members are even on Russia’s payroll, and some are just useful idiots, but both have the same goal – destabilising the economy due to the increasingly radical socialist pressures, demilitarisation and withdrawal from NATO, and environmental pressures pushing countries into their arms, which represent complete dependence on Russian gas and oil.
Militarism from Mother Russia
History repeats itself. Political militarism in Slovenia comes, directly and indirectly, from Mother Russia. Just like in 1945, when Russian rulers managed to isolate the most vulnerable parts of European society and use them as weapons. At the time, they used young communist guerrillas. And today, their socialist successors, whether knowingly or unknowingly, act in the interests of the Russian Federation. We recently learned that the Belgian political pogrom against nuclear power plants was actually led by the Kremlin, with its strategic funding of environmental groups that fought against nuclear energy with disinformation. When the Putin regime inevitably collapses on its own, we will be interested to see which of the 103 non-governmental organisations fighting the Holy War against the Slovenian right today were actually supported by the agents of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU). Even if none were supported by them directly, certain things are indisputable and highly suspicious: the Slovenian non-governmental “civil society,” under the auspices of the Institute of the 8th of March, is fighting to overthrow the pro-Western government and set a group of people in its place, who ceremoniously waited for Vladimir Putin in front of the Russian Chapel near the Vršič Pass. And in their pursuit of achieving this goal, they are not ashamed of carrying out Russian terror over the right-wing electorate. President of the Social Democrats party, Tanja Fajon, is right. These are dangerous times we live in!
Peter Truden
