By: Peter Jančič
Despite the decline in viewership of RTV Slovenija after the government parties conducted the largest purge in its history, the government last week increased the contribution we must pay by ten percent so that the state broadcaster RTVS would have an unfair advantage over other media in the market. If we were talking about retail stores, we are in a situation where the government is giving Mercator money to pay all its employees and then some, claiming it is a matter of national interest, while people in the country still predominantly shop at Hofer, Spar, Lidl, and Leclerc. The large and important Mercator, which was sold cheaply during Alenka Bratušek’s time to a failing Croatian tycoon backed by Russian banks, is not the best example, though.
The influence of the government, which, in addition to pouring money into RTVS, also funds numerous other media outlets while attempting to destroy critical ones, was also evident in the suppression of public information regarding Miloš Milović’s statements about Aleksander Čeferin as Milović was headed to prison. This suppression did not occur at RTVS or the state news agency STA, where government control is so obvious that it did not even cross their minds to interview the prime minister’s advisor, Milović, about why he was going to prison. They did not need to use the claim, likely deployed by Čeferin’s associates through Martin Odlazek in Večer, to prevent the publication of an article by Damijana Žišt and Matej Grošelj, or last week’s action by the Hungarian owners of Planet TV to block Bojan Požar’s report. The claim is as follows: “What Miloš Milović is saying are lies from an ordinary criminal seeking revenge against the powerful UEFA chief, Aleksander Čeferin, because the authorities did not protect him from imprisonment. We must not participate in such revenge.”
They prevented people from reading and watching how Milović claimed, as he had already done in court, that Nada Drobne Popovič was transferring money from the state railways to pay for services to Aleksander Čeferin, who was Milović’s employer at the time, rather than for the personal benefit of Milović and a group of associated individuals. The court decided otherwise, ruling that Milović, not Čeferin, was guilty. Čeferin was never tried. However, after working for the Čeferin family, Milović worked for Robert Golob, both when Golob led the state-owned GEN-I and now as Golob leads the government. So, he’s not just anyone. He’s not just an ordinary criminal – unless it’s now normal for criminals to be security advisors to prime ministers, which it has not been so far.
Interestingly, Čeferin has not sued Milović for making false claims. Instead, where possible, he used his influence as the head of an international football organisation and a member of a powerful law firm to prevent the publication of articles with content he did not like. We have also noticed that the media narrative about Planet TV being completely right-wing does not fully hold up. When it comes to uncomfortable issues for the ruling parties related to Milović, who once worked for the Čeferins and later for Golob, the decision-making power lies with the left-leaning figures.
Milović already claimed during the trial that Nada Drobne Popovič, Aleksander Čeferin, and others were falsifying business documents, which is a criminal act. However, the major media outlets did not report on this trial at all – not the state-run RTVS, the state news agency STA, nor even the commercial media. This says a lot about the control, freedom, and scope of the media. As an editor, I published the story about Milović’s trial, covering all its aspects, on Siol.net in April 2022, including the court’s claim about who the money was allegedly for.
Before the last elections, Aleksander Čeferin was a possible new face for Milan Kučan’s influence over the government, and he remains so. Furthermore, he comes from a prestigious and influential law firm, and his brother Rok is one of the nine constitutional judges. It is not wise to cross such people, which was likely an additional reason why media owners quickly silenced Damijana Žišt, Matej Grošelj, and Bojan Požar.
However, they were not completely silenced. It became known that Milović’s claims were not to be published. Požar, in particular, has been loudly protesting lately that censorship was imposed on him. There were no such loud protests at Večer. They were already in financial trouble even without this, and if you have to lay off staff, it is hard to be very brave, independent, and vocal. The result is that you quickly find yourself without a job and with no prospects in a media market that is largely state-controlled.
Požar is an exception and in a different position. He also had a good reason for presenting Milović’s side. It is not just that journalists must present all sides, including the defence of the convicted. Milović is also not just an ordinary criminal. Prime Minister Robert Golob personally stated in parliament that he trusts him – more than the police chief and the interior minister. Senior police officials warned at the time that it was odd they had to listen to someone who was under prosecution when Golob brought Milović in to explain how the prime minister’s security would be organised going forward. This oddity was one of the reasons Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar and Police Chief Boštjan Lindav resigned. Milović was not just Golob’s advisor. He also assisted the Gibanje Svoboda party, as well as the then Minister of Health Danijel Bešič Loredan, who was under 24-hour protection. Previously, Milović had worked for several energy companies, including Robert Golob’s GEN-I. Among insiders, he was also considered an operative for Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković, whose Positive Slovenia party, from which the current Gibanje Svoboda leaders emerged, is being dissolved these days. Besides Golob, there are two other new faces who previously led governments: Alenka Bratušek and Marjan Šarec. Šarec is from Kamnik, where Milović is also from.
The interference of media owners, trying desperately to prevent Milović’s claims from spreading too widely among the public, is highly questionable given the involvement of significant public figures, all from the ruling side. In any serious country, the media would address the statements of an advisor trusted by the prime minister.
But it seems no one takes Golob seriously anymore because Čeferin is simply more important – a new face, possibly even an uncle from the background as Milan Kučan steps back, which means the media must be very careful about what they dare to publish, especially in those outlets dependent on the state and public funds.