Milan Brglez is a far leftist who, ideologically speaking, would fit best into the Left party (Levica), so the news of his – by Slovenian standards – fabulous salary is extremely unpleasant for such a convinced egalitarian.
After the recent verbal duel between the two left-wing “spitzenkandidates,” Nataša Pirc Musar and Milan Brglez, where the latter accused Pirc Musar of having a fictitious low salary in order to hide her income as a lawyer, it is now Brglez himself who is being scrutinised.
In an interview with the unofficial PR agency of the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) – the POP TV television station – the candidate for the position of President of the Republic and current MEP claimed that his salary after all taxes (including Slovenian ones) is around 5,700 euros. On top of that, Brglez receives almost 5,000 euros a month from Brussels to manage his local office. In a friendly conversation with his unofficial PR team, the members of which are otherwise employed as POP TV journalists, he explained that he spends most of the money the European Parliament gives him on managing the local office.
Does Brglez even pay contributions in Slovenia?
When asked to specify his expenses after the interview (presumably so that the curious public can find out how “frugal” the MEP is), his office said that Brglez spends 1,800 euros on rent and parking, 388 euros on running costs, and 726 euros on office supplies and other expenses. At the end of the month, the MEP is left with 1,868 euros, which is a far cry from what he claimed during the interview – that he spends “most” of the money on running his office. Namely, 37 percent of that money is not spent on running costs. At the same time, he also tried to feign ignorance, claiming that he “does not know” whether he can keep this money and that he will ask the European Parliament about it (the European Parliament’s practice is clear – he can keep the money, which the socialist certainly knows).
His gross basic salary, which is mostly only discussed by Slovenian journalists when it comes to right-wing politicians, is, of course, much higher than 5,700 euros. MEPs earn a gross salary of almost 10,000 euros, leaving them with around 7,300 euros after taxes. This is, of course, the basic part of the salary, and then there are the allowances, which can amount to up to 15,000 euros a month.
Matej Lahovnik, former Minister of the Economy and professor of economics, claims that Milan Brglez does not even pay taxes in Slovenia. This would mean that Brglez earns not only 5,700 euros but 7,300 euros while having at least 1,800 euros left over from the money he spends on running his office. He has also said nothing about the incredible daily subsistence allowance of 338 euros, which MEPs receive if they are entered in the register of attendees.
Matej Lahovnik also commented on the matter on Twitter, writing: “A Member of the European Parliament who does not pay contributions in Slovenia is accusing Nataša Pirc Musar of avoiding paying high taxes with a fictitious low lawyer’s salary, instead of both of them advocating for a lower tax burden on salaries.”
It is more than obvious that Brglez, the pilgrim going to visit the grave of Karl Marx, an apologist of post-war communist killings and idolater of the character and work of the communist butcher of capitalists and homosexuals, Che Guevarra, finds it somehow difficult to verbalise the fact that in a month, he earns as much as the average Slovenian cleaner does in a good year. It is a typical paradox of bourgeois socialists with Rolexes on their hands and emeralds around their necks, who are dressed head to toe in the Armani autumn collection, while they keep talking about income equality. But they are, of course, not talking about income equality between you and them. Only between the middle class and those who earn minimum wage.
Andrej Žitnik
