By: Bogdan Sajovic
We have come so far that in Europe, in the Year of Our Lord 2026, you can be convicted for citing official government statistics during a university lecture (!).
In 2024, during a lecture at the University of Leuven, Dries van Langenhove presented a correlation between increased migration from the Third World and declining quality of life in many areas – security, housing, education …
This year, he was convicted for it; the judge stated that the accuracy of the data was irrelevant, the mere fact that Dries mentioned it was enough to convict him of spreading racism. This should not surprise us. Over the past decade, European countries, some on their own initiative, others following Brussels’ guidance, have been rapidly introducing legislation that allows anyone to be convicted for one form or another of “‑phobia” or “‑ism.”
A Briton who mentioned online that a Black murderer had stabbed a group of girls received two years in prison. A Swedish woman who reported to the police that a group of young men of colour were setting cars on fire in her street found herself under investigation, while the arsonists were not even identified. Even mentioning watermelons, work, or basketball can be considered “potentially racist,” claim woke activists, as can mentioning work schedules, mathematics, or classical music.
So, is anyone surprised that in such a deranged society, citing official statistics can also be a criminal offence? And let no one imagine that Slovenia is any better, Slovenian legislation, if interpreted broadly and applied by activist‑minded judges, also allows someone to be convicted for citing official statistics. We are not quite there yet, but we are not far off.
Let us hope the new governing coalition will change something in this area as well. All it takes is a bit of political will, and the legislation that threatens freedom of speech will end up in the trash where it belongs. Coalition, make speech free again.