By: Dr Metod Berlec
In this issue of the magazine, we put under the microscope the recent promotional “coffee gathering” of Ljubljana’s mayor Zoran Janković, Prime Minister Robert Golob, and the last party leader and first president of the Republic of Slovenia, Milan Kučan, at the Ljubljana market. With this, they publicly signal that they are connected and that they have each other’s backs, if needed. In the style of “what can you do to us.”
As Janković openly stated in June 2014 in an interview with HTV when asked if he feared being convicted and sent to prison by Slovenian courts, “Not at all, I have been, so to speak, the greatest opponent of Janez Janša’s politics in this area of executive power.” His prediction quickly came true, and the legal processes against him began to fall one after another. It is also interesting that after socialising with the last party leader, Janković and Golob met again, this time at a venue owned by the infamous “Balkan warrior” Dragan Tošić. Undoubtedly inappropriate. This situation strongly resembles the meetings and actions depicted in American movies, showing the operations of the Sicilian mafia in the U.S. It highlights Janković’s significant influence on Golob. The true influence of Kučan will become clear with time. However, they send a message that they can do whatever they want.
Under the rule of the “freedom fighters” or the transitional left, the Republic of Slovenia is becoming a country where the ruling class does as it pleases. If by chance anyone tries to hold up a mirror to them or point out their controversial and illegal methods of operation, retaliation follows. The latest such example is the government’s revenge against the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia for “daring” (in mid-September) to point out irregularities in its audit report on the final state budget and its implementation for 2023. The purchase of a building on Litijska Street 51 in Ljubljana stands out here. Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič violated the Public Finance Act by reallocating millions from the state budget reserve for a non-existent judicial building. Auditors also found irregularities in the Ministry of Digital Transformation’s purchase of 13,000 computers. Similarly, the Court of Audit was critical of the Minister of Culture, Asta Vrečko, for transferring over eight thousand euros to Svetlana Makarovič for the Prešeren Award, even though Makarovič had publicly renounced the award in 2000.
This was followed by government retaliation. The Court of Audit expressed its dissatisfaction with the government’s changes to the 2025 budget in a protest letter to the government and the National Assembly, as well as at a press conference. The National Assembly approved a proposal from the ruling coalition to reduce the initially agreed amount for the Court of Audit by 3.86 million euros, from 13.25 million to 9.39 million euros, and for the National Council from the originally planned 3.87 million to 3.38 million euros. The 2025 budget, approved last year, had foreseen 9.11 million euros for the Court of Audit. If the government’s initial changes had been accepted, the Court’s budget would have increased by 4.14 million euros to 13.25 million euros, but due to this reduction, the increase will be much smaller. At the same time, the new salary system has effectively devalued the Court of Audit as one of the key institutions in the country. “How can an independent body be independent if it is not financially independent?” asked the Court’s president, Jana Ahčin, in a public statement on Monday. When asked whether the reduction in the budget might be seen as a response to the Court of Audit’s findings in some high-profile cases, such as the Litijska case, she expressed hope that the government would not act this way. “I hope our government does not do this, affecting the financial independence of the Court of Audit, the supreme state auditor,” she said. However, she added, “Perhaps there remains a slight bitter aftertaste and doubt that this represents some sort of revenge by the government.” This acknowledges that in its 30 years of existence, the Court has never faced such pressures as it has under the current government.
Undoubtedly, we can observe government revenge at every turn. It began immediately with the formation of Golob’s government, which set a goal to settle scores with the legacy of Janša’s government, regardless of the consequences. They wanted to “cleanse” state institutions of “Janšists”. This was especially evident in the case of the police and the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia. They even ordered the creation of a list of all newly hired people in the public sector during the previous government. They abolished the Office for Demography, the Museum of Slovenian Independence, the national day of remembrance for the victims of communist violence, and much more. With the help of law enforcement and a carefully selected judiciary, they continuously and shamelessly settle scores with the leader of SDS, Janez Janša. Since the beginning of this term, they have abused a parliamentary investigative commission, established for political purposes and to target media they dislike (including Demokracija), which was originally led by Mojca Šetinc Pašek, and now by Tamara Vonta (both from the quota of the Gibanje Svoboda party). We are speeding towards a new form of left-wing totalitarianism, which is becoming increasingly tangible. This must be firmly resisted, as according to the first article of the Slovenian Constitution, the Republic of Slovenia is a “democratic republic”.