By: Vančo K. Tegov
Time passes, says nothing, and things only get worse. And it does not stop. Scandal is the common denominator of the government assembled, and still being assembled, dismantled, and led, by Robert Golob.
Three and a half years have passed, and much has gone wrong in the meantime. And it keeps heading in the same direction. The lives of most citizens have worsened. A state already damaged and amputated has been further punished by the degradation of Slovenia’s reputation, through a wedding that resembled a cheap Bollywood farce, complete with all the trappings, where he “blessed” a courtesan or a princess of Monaco’s sidewalks, who has now supposedly become respectable while tarnishing Slovenia’s image. He came off as “European,” but in all the wrong ways, trying to be a “Macron,” at least in terms of marital acquisitions. Just in the wrong direction. Delusion, imbalance, narcissism, and cacophony – all rolled into one. To the detriment of the country and its citizens. It is dangerous, unhealthy, pathological.
What has he amputated, destroyed, disabled?
The amputators across ministries do as they please, with the blessing and full awareness of the chief among them. Some act out of ignorance, shallowness, and lack of expertise in the fields they formally oversee. But the Prime Minister does it deliberately. Driven by pathological impulses. So that no one interferes with or disrupts his personal visions.
Throughout nearly his entire term, much has been said, but nothing done, for pensioners and all those who, through years of hard labour, earned a pension meant to ensure a dignified life in retirement. Instead, they’ve received mere crumbs, barely enough for “coffee for two.” And not everyone is treated equally. There is a privileged caste that does not suffer, only complains about not having “enough” for their pleasures. Allegedly rewarded for past merits from an era dominated by red ideology, communism and its fashionable delusions in 50+ shades. Names like Boris and Svetlana say it all… It is a wonder that pensioners, dignified and deserving, have not yet reached a breaking point. From long-term care and long-promised reforms, all that remains is a mandatory tax on low pensions and an e-care system plagued by long waits and tedious check-ins with no real impact. And the “emperor” among authentic fools remains on his “throne.”
Healthcare has become a ministry of long waiting times, chaotic scheduling, and soon, the confusing revocation of concessions. Shortening queues is “solved” by compressing existing ones. Authentic logic for an authentic fool. For those waiting, it means worsening health and declining quality of life across nearly all population groups. Incompetent leadership opens the door for the “sun king” to meddle in the ministry, especially when it comes to his own aches or his “Monaco princess.” Hospital deficits under his hand-picked cronies are nothing special. Everything flows, nothing improves, and if it does, it is certainly for the worse.
Foreign policy is yet another “little garden” overgrown with the weeds of incompetence, amateurism, and occasional diplomatic idiocy, all serving to distance it from its essential role: strengthening, consolidating, and enhancing Slovenia’s visibility in the international community and on the diplomatic stage.
What is actually going on?
The reputation of the Republic of Slovenia is plummeting, truly, as the saying goes, to the level of a “banana republic.” When a meeting is organised that once held prestige and significance, we are now greeted by the entire Third World. Even neighbouring countries avoid it, openly stating that attending would be a waste of time. And those who do show up out of courtesy are scolded by a former flight attendant, now the President of the Republic, with a lecture on how they ought to applaud her globally groundbreaking and visionary speech. Add to that a two-meter-tall political oddball in tennis shoes, like Edi Rama, who spent the entire time glued to his SMS messages. The rest? Just sandwich nibblers and canapé enthusiasts.
Diplomacy has sunk so low that it has become a playground for treating the frustrations of all those who are supposed to represent the country abroad. Nataša Pirc Musar, the President of the Republic, lectures all of Europe from a podium in Brussels, dictating definitions of what something is or is not, and how the diplomacy of sovereign states should behave. She travels to New York for the UN General Assembly in a Falcon jet – Soviet-style – at enormous expense. There, she delivers thunderous opinions, almost commands, on how a particular country should act in a conflict, what is wrong, and even proposes sanctions. That is the extent of her “reach.” Add to that Tanja Fajon, former RTV SLO correspondent in Brussels and now foreign minister, who plays a completely inferior role in shaping foreign policy, and we are where we are: nowhere, headed nowhere, achieving nothing, except international embarrassment. The Prime Minister, the chief amputator of everything good from before, keeps “gifting,” handing out millions here and millions there, money for the “successful” fight of terrorists in Israel aimed at dismantling the sovereign state of Israel. He goes so far as to become a supporter and ringleader of those who want to ban Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu from entering the country.
The pinnacle of Slovenia’s diplomatic collapse is the interference in foreign policy by Tina Gaber Golob, formerly the “Monaco girl,” now self-proclaimed “first lady.” She reportedly demanded that the Foreign Ministry initiate contacts to instruct other first ladies and diplomats (ministers) on how to prepare for a campaign to recognise the non-existent state of Palestine, led by internationally confirmed terrorists who terrorise their own people. As if she were inviting them to a snorting session or a nasal line-pulling ritual. God help us. I hope, at least for the newlywed couple, that they have a backup location, and that it is not Karigador.
The way out? Departure. Into inglorious history. Forever!
Sadly, things have reached a point where escape through lies and manipulation of the public is no longer possible. All I can say is: given everything that is happening and what we are dealing with, this team of “amputators” should become political “amputees”, with Robert Golob at the helm. They should have stepped down yesterday. Today, the water (in a month or two, snow) is already at the throat of a crippled state.
And what will he have to do, or want to do, upon departure?
Immediately retreat to a “bunker,” with Eva, pardon, Tina. That is, if she even wants to go with him at that point. I doubt it. If she does, it is more likely with someone else, and not to a bunker, but toward Monaco or somewhere else starting with M. Regardless of the surname she is now attached to.