By: Sara Kovač / Nova24tv
NGOs like to talk when human rights are allegedly violated in Slovenia, and when “censorship” and “pressures” on freedom of speech and media reporting are carried out. Although it is clear that these allegations have no basis in reality, as we are witnessing constant attacks on the government and the export of imaginary stories abroad, it is interesting how NGOs, including left-wing political parties (with the exception of SD), do not support Ukraine which is threatened by Russian aggression. Russia’s threats are serious, and one would expect NGOs to condemn them and call for calming tensions. The public would expect at least some protest from them in front of the Russian Embassy in Ljubljana, as it is known that in addition to territorial aspirations, there are serious human rights violations in this country.
As we can see, there is no sign of protests in front of the Russian embassy, although the severity of the armed conflict is high. After a meeting with the Allies and Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that all indications were that Russia continued to plan a large-scale attack on Ukraine. Namely, the Russians have promised that there will be a withdrawal of forces, but it seems that these are getting stronger. According to Stoltenberg, more and more units are ready to fight, but provocations in Donbas and the search for excuses for war continue.
As we reported last week in connection with organisations and civil society initiatives merging into the Voice of the People civil initiative, we have seen in a few cases that many receive a large chunk of the budget cake, but there is no sign of concrete results. Either way, when the Prime Minister Janez Janša pointed out this fact, he received a lot of criticism from non-governmental organisations. Namely, he dared to ask his followers on Twitter if anyone knew of any national achievement of any of the recipients of taxpayers’ money listed below, and a bunch of critics of the non-government officials flooded him. While we are accustomed that they publicly opposse Israel and support terrorist Palestine, we are even more accustomed that they protest the current government when it comes to their pockets. Recall that in recent times they have done nothing to condemn the authorities in Belarus, Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia, where they kill and imprison the political opposition, journalists, and others. Russian sentiment is seen in them in the same way as in their masters, who went to “worship” Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
From 2009 to 2019, 31,841,020 euros were allocated from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia for the Renovation of Homes for the Elderly, given the fact that no home for the elderly was built at that time. At that time, only 35,672,609 euros were earmarked for the maintenance and construction of student dormitories. At the same time, the 20 best-funded so-called “non-governmental organisations”, mostly from Metelkova 6 in Ljubljana, received as much as 70,481,020 euros from the budget.
On the agenda of daily political topics
If we at least expected from the Peace Institute, which raises a lot of public funds, to engage, and critically condemn Russia’s behaviour, it would be a mistake. If we take a few minutes and look at their official website, one can read that the institute is supposed to develop research, educational and awareness-raising activities in the fields of social sciences and humanities in five thematic fields: politics, human rights and minorities, media, gender, and cultural policies. “It is an advocate of vulnerable groups and works with them to eliminate discrimination. It is a prominent research and civil society actor in Slovenia, the region and internationally, and an unavoidable reference in the fields in which it works. It connects with other related actors (institutes, universities, NGOs) and with citizens at local, regional, and international levels”. Obviously, one is theory, and something else is practice.
They receive a large pile of public funds
The application for showing the use of public money in the Republic of Slovenia Erar confirms that the Peace Institute (a privately owned institute) receives large piles of money from citizens. By far the most funds in the period from 2003 until today it received from the Public Agency for Research of the Republic of Slovenia in the amount of as much as 3,145,642.16 euros. So far, they have received 464,364.93 euros from the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, 440,587.99 euros from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and 410,664.88 euros from the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Among the sources of funding are also: the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Scientific Research Centre of Koper, the City of Ljubljana, the Ministry of Culture, etc.
Erased, migrants…
Apparently, the Peace Institute is more concerned with socio-political issues against the government than with the protest against Russia. Among their priority activities are, for example, the presentation of the achievements of the organisations at Metelkova 6, criticism of the Ministry of Culture, and a discussion on the rule of law. As can be seen, they even recently participated in an international conference on the normalisation of the extreme right, dealing with the empowerment of migrant votes, and yesterday responded to the move of President Borut Pahor, who apologised to the erased. In the meantime, they do not seem to have found time to write a contribution expressing concern over Russia’s recent moves, let alone to show in any other way that they are committed to respecting human rights and respecting international law. As we were interested in why this was the case, we asked them a question. When we receive the answer, we will publish it.
Other non-governmental organisations, especially those involved in human rights advocacy, would also be expected to respond, at least in the form of a critical essay. Unless some people find it normal for someone to step into a neighbouring country and declare parts of that country to be sovereign, in addition to brutally violating human rights in the country.