By: Nova24TV.si
According to the opposition, Marta Kos is not suitable for the position of Commissioner for a variety of reasons, including a lack of relevant experience, lobbying activities, and strong evidence suggesting she was a source for the Yugoslav intelligence service SDV. Her views on Russia are also highly problematic. A statement made shortly after the start of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine suggests that she is strongly pro-Russian, which poses an issue as her portfolio in the European Commission would also include assistance to Ukraine.
These views were highlighted by European Parliament member Romana Tomc, who stated: “The portfolio assigned to Slovenia includes not only the Western Balkans but also Ukraine. Based on Marta Kos’ statements, one could conclude that she is strongly pro-Russian. This is a problem. We also do not know her positions or connections regarding the Western Balkans. These matters will need to be thoroughly explained during the committee’s discussion.”
The controversial views of Slovenia’s nominee for the European Commission were expressed in an interview for Žurnal on March 20th, 2022, one month after the start of the invasion. That month, for example, saw the massacre in Bucha, in which, according to the Ukrainian government, 458 people lost their lives. At that time, Russian military units were still near the Ukrainian capital. Marta Kos said then that doors to Russia should not be closed, and she criticised the shift in foreign policy under Janez Janša’s government from Moscow towards Washington:
“With some of the government’s actions, Slovenia is closing doors for itself. One of these actions is the withdrawal of consent for Russian honorary consuls in Slovenia. These are Slovenian citizens who became honorary consuls because they had done something positive for Slovenian-Russian relations in the past. Our interest is to once again have normal relations with Russia someday, and in this regard, the honorary consuls could help us. The same thing happened to Janez Škrabec when the Slovenian government withdrew his consent to be an honorary consul for Belarus because he refused to publicly distance himself from Belarus’ actions. I emphasise again, we must voice all criticisms against Russia, but we should not close doors. Foreign policy is about working for our national interests. Slovenia has always had good relations with Russia, but under Janez Janša’s government, we saw a shift towards the U.S. and a distancing from Russia, at least outwardly.”
In the interview, she also criticised Janša’s visit to Kyiv, much like the leaders of the failed “KUL” coalition. It is worth recalling that this was a historic visit of three statesmen – Janša, Fiala, and Morawiecki – which paved the way for the EU’s current policy towards Ukraine.
“We still do not know what our Prime Minister discussed in Kyiv, what he promised.”
Source: Žurnal
Her previously expressed views were also highlighted yesterday on the influential X (formerly Twitter) profile Višegrad24: “Marta Kos, nominated by Slovenia for European Commissioner for enlargement and the rebuilding of Ukraine, praised Slovenia’s longstanding good relations with Russia three weeks after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. She also criticised Slovenia’s foreign policy “pivot” towards the U.S. under Janez Janša’s government.”