By: Dr. Vinko Gorenak
As a country, we are at the lowest point in terms of the serious and effective functioning of the police, which is a key segment of national security. The situation worsens day by day and is leading nowhere but towards a complete collapse of the system, which can be of critical importance for the safety of citizens and the survival of the state.
The police force is a complex system, which I often refer to as the largest organisation in the country, with around 8,000 employees. It is the only system that holds repressive powers, allowing it to legally intervene in human rights. Let’s not forget, a police officer can lawfully use firearms, and in this regard, due to the potential consequence – the death of a person – they hold more authority, exercised within seconds or moments, than all prosecutors and courts combined. Therefore, the police, as a system, must be effectively managed, and especially be efficiently monitored, to prevent the abuse of their powers in unlawful violations of human rights. The police are tasked with ensuring the protection of human rights for all citizens. Most citizens benefit from this, as the police, with their repressive powers, are concerned only with a minor minority of individuals who break the law.
However, during the mandate of this government, I notice that the situation within the police force is becoming more critical by the day, and it has now reached its lowest point. But the situation is much more serious than we think. The cause of this is the weak political leadership within the Ministry of the Interior, and the total absence of proper police leadership. As a result of both factors, the operational system of the police is slowly but steadily collapsing. On a somewhat local level, the system still functions, which is why most people do not feel the severity of the situation. Let me support this statement with some data.
New minister and new general director of the police
Each time a new government takes office, the police receive either a new or a previous internal minister, who has limited influence over the police work, as the police are an agency whose absolute superior and leader in all aspects is the general director of the police. The selection of each prime minister’s choice for the internal minister is left to the prime minister in power. For the functioning of the police, this position may be less important than the role of the general director of the police. We are accustomed, after a few mandates, to seeing the police receive a new general director at the first government session, which is perfectly fine. However, this is not always necessary. The general director is, by law, a career policeman, which is standard practice in most European countries. However, there are many career policemen who meet the legal criteria, including 15 years of service in the police and 8 years of leadership experience in senior positions.
And this is where the situation started to falter at the beginning of this mandate. When Prime Minister Robert Golob was not satisfied with Boštjan Lindav, who was acting as the general director of the police, Senad Jušić was chosen for the position. Setting aside the personal acquaintance of Jušić’s brother (also a policeman) with Golob, as reported by the media, the interior minister Boštjan Poklukar did not even know Jušić but still selected and proposed him for the appointment to the government. This, of course, was at Golob’s request. Many had already warned at the time that Jušić did not meet the legal requirements for appointment (8 years of leadership experience), which was recently confirmed by the Administrative Court. In such circumstances, the police have an illegally appointed general director, and any citizen can, in any police procedure, accuse any police officer of having an illegally appointed general director. This is happening in practice, and it creates an obstacle for police officers in their work, even though they have no influence over who their general director is. With all due respect to Jušić, perhaps he was an excellent policeman, criminologist, or supervisor in the police, but it is clear that he is an extremely weak leader who simply does not lead the police. This should not be a criticism of him, but rather of Golob and Poklukar; he can only be criticised for the naivety of stepping into shoes far too large for him. The consequence of the absence of leadership in the police is the collapse of an effective and lawful police force, which I will elaborate on in the following sections.
It started with Golob’s bodyguards
Today, Golob vehemently explains how he arranged his own security in the same way that Dr Janez Drnovšek had arranged his, and that his security is now guaranteed, especially since no information leaks from this service of his. Of course, this is a pure lie. It is not just one of Golob’s usual lies; he is likely convinced of these claims because the police whisperers have told him so.
Every prime minister, interior minister, and even the head of the police, when assuming their position, is often surrounded by individuals from the police force. Many of them are former policemen who did not progress in the police force according to their own wishes or were dismissed from the police, but they all try to “advise” according to their “best abilities”. This also happened to me when I became the interior minister. From highly accusatory anonymous letters against individuals, including my bodyguards, to warnings about how poorly the police officers were protecting me and similar complaints. The question, of course, is how much these protected individuals fall for these people’s influence and how much they do not. Golob is certainly one of those who has completely fallen for these whisperers and believes them. In fact, he still believes them today.
He probably was not the only one among these “whisperers” who influenced Golob, with Miloš Njegoslav Milović likely being one of them. It is quite clear that these people convinced Golob of the need for his own security service, probably even providing material evidence, such as a photo of his underage son in Brussels. Golob does not even realise that the photo was probably taken by the whisperers. Drnovšek never had such an organised security service, nor did Milan Kučan; the latter only had one advisor, a former police inspector. But Golob is unaware of this today, so he unknowingly lies when comparing his security service to Drnovšek’s.
Golob’s security service (police officers employed by the Government Secretariat) is a sort of sore spot for the police and its services, as these officers report to Golob and not the general director of the police. The general director of the police, therefore, has no influence over Golob’s bodyguards, yet by law, they are responsible for Golob’s security. Of course, the relevant security information for Golob is with the police, but the question is how much of this information reaches Golob’s bodyguards, who are not part of the police. Golob is also unaware of this. This absurd situation is the very reason why the former general director of the police, Boštjan Lindav, and former interior minister Tatjana Bobnar rightfully resisted Golob, but unfortunately gave in.
Cleaning out the “Janšists”, reintroducing fines, and criminal charges against police leaders
I believe there are many individuals who applauded Golob when he ordered Interior Minister Bobnar to carry out the so-called “cleaning out of the ‘Janšists’”. However, at its core, Golob violated Article 22 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (equal protection of rights) at this very point, for which he should have, of course, stepped down as prime minister. This is especially true for his order that the Director of the Nova Gorica Police Department, Egon Govekar, and the Director of the Police Specialties Department, Martin Jazbec, should lose their jobs. Martin Jazbec is reportedly the one who lawfully dismissed Miloš Njegoslav Milović from the police. The extent to which Lindav and Bobnar resisted this is another matter. It is widely believed today that they resisted. I personally do not believe this, and evidence for my doubt is the approximately 15 criminal charges that were filed against 15 high-ranking police officers (reportedly “Janšists”) under their tenure, particularly those responsible for securing violent protests by left-wingers, especially between October 3rd and 5th, 2021, when a meeting of EU and Western Balkans heads of state was held in Ljubljana and Brdo.
Golob’s stance and orders to “clean out the ‘Janšists’”, reintroduce fines for violent protesters, and file criminal charges against police chiefs who were lawfully carrying out their duties (no one has been convicted, at least not yet), send a destructive message to all police chiefs and officers in Slovenia. Golob is primarily responsible for this, but the interior minister Poklukar and the general director of the police, Jušić, are equally to blame.
This destructive message to police chiefs and officers has severe practical consequences on the ground. Some of these are visible today, while others are still hidden from the public (or not yet). The poor handling by police officers of the Roma issue is already a consequence of everything mentioned. Police officers and their leaders are certainly weighing between lawful action and whether to step back, not act, or look the other way. They often no longer know what is right and what is wrong (reintroducing fines), and they are afraid of sanctions. The consequences are evident in the form of inaction or poor action.
The same reasons can be attributed to the recent retreat, or almost fleeing, of police officers from violent individuals in one of the public garages in Ljubljana, or the failure of police officers to act during the recent celebrations of Albanians in Ljubljana. So why would police officers and their leaders expose themselves, endanger their lives, the material existence of their families, and more, if they know that even when performing their duties lawfully, no one will stand up for them, defend them, or offer legal protection? This is, therefore, the breakdown of the system of effective and lawful police work.
The ineffective leadership of the police system is clearly moving from the national level to lower levels as well. Evidence of this is the recent case from Nova Gorica, where, according to media reports, a senior police officer, who has been literally harassing, mistreating, and threatening younger police colleagues for over a decade, also exhibits such behaviour toward citizens. Even though he is supposedly already convicted for such conduct, he is still a police officer, representing an internal security risk for the police. This, of course, raises the question of where police leaders are, from the local to the national level, and what they are doing. Clearly, at least from this perspective, they are doing nothing, despite being paid for it.
Decline in the number of police officers
Today, it is often said that there are too few police officers. We have somehow grown accustomed to this, as I do not know of any professional group that would publicly claim they have too many members. So, let’s look at the numbers. Before independence, Slovenia had about 6,700 police officers. This number carried over into the independent state. In 2004, we gave Brussels a written commitment that Slovenia, after entering the Schengen Area in 2007, would have slightly over 10,000 police officers. We never reached that number. In 2012, during the second Janša government, when we were in the midst of the worst economic crisis and money was running out everywhere, the number of police officers was not reduced. The number remained around 8,500, the same as in the previous term.
Today, when there is plenty of money in the state budget, the government boasts that the number of employees in ministries and associated agencies has remained almost the same as at the start of their term or has even decreased. However, they conceal the fact that they increased the number of employees by about 700 overall, while the number of police officers has dropped by approximately 600 compared to 2022. There are also fewer prison guards and customs officers, and the data on the number of soldiers is not published.
Having led the HR department of the Ministry of the Interior, including the police, for several years, I cannot be convinced that it is impossible to increase the number of police officers or at least maintain it at the same level as before. Rather, it seems that Golob, Poklukar, and Jušić are deliberately reducing the number of police officers, who are often overburdened. The result is the accelerated breakdown of the police system.
The security and protection centre is just the tip of the iceberg
The situation in the Security and Protection Centre represents merely the visible tip of the iceberg, which the public happens to be aware of these days. This specialised unit, established immediately after Slovenia’s independence, is tasked with protecting high-profile individuals. There is no reason to doubt the testimony of prosecutor Mateja Gončin, who has spoken about numerous irregularities, abuses, and even deliberate criminal acts by the security personnel, particularly the leadership of the mentioned centre. Moreover, she claims to have material evidence to support her allegations.
Her public appearance is evidently a reflection of her distress. The police have provided her with protection, reportedly due to her prosecutorial duties. Over a year ago, she informed both Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar and Police Director-General Senad Jušić about these issues, yet no action has been taken. Worse still, instead of the minister’s inspectors promptly and effectively investigating her allegations, their findings allegedly pointed to supposed intimate relationships between the prosecutor and her security personnel. This is despicable, appearing as if they intended to ruin her personal life entirely.
The irregularities, abuses, and crimes have occurred and likely continue to occur. Instead of a swift and decisive response from Minister Poklukar and Director-General Jušić – who were informed of her claims over a year ago and received a supervisory report confirming some of her statements nearly six months ago – the two have, following her public appearance, continued to mock her and all of us. They dismiss the concerns with hollow statements about the good work of the police and the supposedly safe country that the police ensure.
Lack of leadership and Golob’s interventions in the police
The absence of serious and responsible leadership within the police force, starting from its highest ranks, is evident at every step. This has led to the erosion of entire subsystems within the police, most notably the National Bureau of Investigation, which Golob directly intervened in at the beginning of his term. It is no secret that Golob personally appointed Darko Muženič as the head of this crucial agency tasked with prosecuting the most severe forms of crime.
To remind you, at the time of his appointment, Muženič was under scrutiny by criminal investigators and prosecutors. However, following Golob’s intervention with the prosecutors, all proceedings against Muženič were halted, paving the way for his ascension to the top position at the NPU. Given that this agency should also investigate suspicions of criminal acts involving Golob himself, Muženič’s appointment guarantees that nothing will happen to Golob. Muženič is there precisely for this purpose. Consider the unresolved matters such as Golob’s “stolen identity” in Romania, substantial sums of money in an account there, payments to journalist Vesna Vuković for unspecified services, Balkan financial dealings, all from the time when Golob was at the helm of Gen-I. These issues, under Muženič’s oversight, will simply wait for “better times.” All criminal investigators are aware of this, further demotivating them. Additionally, intrigues, unauthorised data collection on selected individuals (including politicians), threats, and blackmail are reportedly part of everyday life at the highest levels of the police. This is both frightening and dangerous. Some may argue otherwise and point to the criminal complaint filed against Golob as evidence to the contrary. However, this fact changes nothing of what has been written. The complaint against Golob is the result of work by criminal investigators at the regional level in Ljubljana – a consequence of oversight by both Darko Muženič and Police Director-General Jušić, who were allegedly not informed about it. This failure to meet Golob’s expectations only underscores the systemic issues.
Police officers ordered not to follow laws
In the past year, police officers dealing with illegal migration were negatively surprised by instructions they received – orders not to comply with laws. While I have no evidence of these being written instructions, they are evidently given orally at the very least, which has the same practical effect.
When police detain an individual who has entered the country illegally, they are required under EU asylum laws, our national legislation, and international agreements to examine all the circumstances of such an act. They are permitted and obligated to deny entry into the country if legitimate reasons exist, as defined by international agreements. This is particularly true for Croatia or Hungary, both of which are EU and Schengen member states and are considered safe countries. If it is indisputable that a person entered Slovenia illegally and it can be proven that they arrived from one of these countries, police officers are both allowed and required to return the individual to that country. However, this appears to no longer be the case. Such checks on illegal migrants entering Slovenia seem to be a thing of the past. Officers report that these investigations no longer occur and that they now merely act as chauffeurs, transporting illegal migrants to the Asylum Home in Ljubljana at the state’s expense.
The approach to dealing with illegal migrants who leave the Asylum Home has apparently also changed. Statistics from 2024 show that the police detained around 45,000 illegal migrants who entered Slovenia unlawfully. Typically, these individuals apply for international protection or asylum and are housed in the Asylum Home. However, the facility accommodates only a few hundred migrants at most, as the majority leave and head toward Austria or Italy. Police officers have shared that changes in how such individuals are handled changed last year. If migrants are apprehended on their way toward Austria or Italy, officers are seemingly instructed to offer them the opportunity to reapply for asylum or international protection and to arrange for their re-housing at the Asylum Home – something they never did in the past.
Such likely verbal instructions represent a departure from the enforcement of laws concerning illegal migration. This has a demotivating effect on police officers, as they are fully aware of the legal framework and international agreements governing this area but are required to act differently. Naturally, officers question how it is possible that someone can effectively prevent them from performing their duties in accordance with the law. This situation further contributes to the disintegration of the police system’s functioning.
Negative personnel selection in the police force
The disintegration of the police system is driven by multiple factors. One significant cause is the so-called negative personnel selection and the failure of police leaders to retire once they meet the conditions for retirement. When I refer to negative personnel selection, the situation closely mirrors that of the judicial system, where less competent and less educated individuals tend to advance. The old joke that a police officer and a police dog walk down the street together, sharing a high school diploma between them, no longer holds true. Today, the situation is reversed: around 400 police officers with master’s degrees perform basic policing tasks such as responding to violations, directing traffic, and similar duties. They have limited opportunities for advancement. The police force also includes over 40 officers with doctorates, who, in most cases, do not occupy the highest positions within the organisation. Leadership roles are often held by individuals with lower levels of education, many of whom have long since fulfilled the requirements for retirement but remain in their positions due to legal provisions allowing it. During the previous government term, a legal amendment was introduced stipulating that work extensions could only occur with the consent of both the employee and the employer. However, this provision was annulled by the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. This issue further erodes the functioning of the police system and contributes to its ongoing disintegration.
At the core of this situation lies the responsibility of Prime Minister Golob himself. Through rash actions, he has frequently interfered with police operations. Responsibility also lies with the Minister of the Interior, Poklukar, and the General Director of Police, Jušić, who is not effectively leading the police force. Golob’s actions carry even greater responsibility, as his statements have not only violated the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (e.g., targeting “Janša supporters”) but also laws. Furthermore, his comments have directly associated police officers with organised crime. Such assessments of police work from the highest levels of the executive branch are humiliating and demotivating for all police officers and investigators. Naturally, they significantly contribute to the accelerated disintegration of the police system.
Instead of a conclusion
From a broader perspective, it is evident that the functioning of the police system is deteriorating and has reached its lowest point since 1990. The primary responsibility for this lies with Prime Minister Robert Golob, Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar, and General Director of Police Senad Jušić.
Some may argue that my writing exaggerates the situation or claim that centre-right governments treated the police no differently. Neither assertion holds true. I am ready to engage in public debates with such individuals and exchange arguments.
My intention is simple and sincere. I do not aim to insult or alarm anyone with this commentary. However, I feel it is my duty to share what I know and observe with the public. As a long-serving police officer, police leader, Minister of the Interior, politician, and above all, as a citizen, I am deeply aware of the role and importance of the police in a well-functioning state. From 1990 to 1999, I actively contributed to shaping the police organisation. The first modern Police Act was drafted in my office in 1998. Thus, I cannot remain indifferent when I witness the disintegration of the police system. I firmly assert that the police have never been at such a low point in their functioning since 1990. I sincerely hope that from this point onward, the police can only move toward improvement. This is what we all deserve as citizens who wish to live in a truly safe environment.