By: Peter Jančič (Spletni časopis)
President Nataša Pirc Musar surprised this week from the USA by calling for Zoran Janković to stop the construction of a sewage line across the source of drinking water in the capital. In the background, however, the government rejected European plans to reduce the import of Russian gas, because the government intends to significantly increase gas imports for the “green transition” of the mayor of the capital, Janković. Prime Minister Robert Golob knows about Russian gas. Along with electricity from the only nuclear plant, he sold Russian gas in the past as the head of the state-owned GEN-I.
In recent weeks, however, he has been embarrassing himself by strangely evading answers to questions about why he transferred large sums of money from there to Martin Berisha in Kosovo, to Vesna Vuković in SEEM M. & C…
As Prime Minister, Pirc Musar from the USA criticises Janković
Pirc Musar criticised Janković for implementing an ecologically risky project without agreements and expert assessments of possible consequences. Her criticism was a big surprise, because we know that Janković is the uncle of the current government. In the past, Golob was the vice president of Janković’s Positive Slovenia. With public support, Janković and Milan Kučan made a strong contribution to achieving the third highest share in the history of parliamentary elections as a “new face” with Gibanje svoboda party in the parliamentary elections. Only Janez Drnovšek with LDS in 2010 and SMC with Miro Cerar in 2014 are higher.
As Janković implements a “green transition” in Ljubljana with gas, the government rejects EU plans to reduce gas imports. It intends to increase it greatly.
It was even more unusual because Pirc Musar from the USA announced herself as the Prime Minister and not just as the President of the Republic, who has only symbolic power and does not get involved in the daily affairs of government. She attacked the Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Affairs, Uroš Brežan, for working poorly.
This is one of the five recently newly established ministries, with which we got one of the most abundant governments in Europe in terms of numbers. Prime Minister Golob himself was somewhat to blame for the strangeness of Pirc Musar announcing herself as head of government. In the United States, he sent as many as two ministers of his abundant government to the UN conference on water in a delegation led by Pirc Musar. Besides Brežan, he also sent the Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of the SD Tanja Fajon. Probably with the logic that Pirc Musar herself, since she is still new, would not be able to do it. In recent weeks, Fajon has been trying not to fail in the fight with Belarus for the seat of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Brežan answered from the USA in front of Pirc Musar with the message that Janković has all the permits for the construction of a sewage line across a source of drinking water, and that the benefits of the project are greater than the potential dangers. But this did not stop Pirc Musar from asking Janković to stop the construction, and on top of that, she called on Minister Brežan to immediately prepare an amendment to the legislation, which is not clear enough and allows “certain bypasses”.
Let’s say that no one makes a serious assessment of the possible consequences on the environment.
Later, Pirc Musar corrected herself a little, saying that she did not demand a cancellation of work, but only a short break for a conversation. Which immediately sparked discussions about who all called Pirc Musar. It is only the emissaries of Janković, who also have problems with the farmers who are digging up their land, and they have even protested with tractors in recent days. Or it was Kučan himself who called, as hinted by the president of the opposition SDS Janez Janša, who has opposed Janković’s unusual construction for many years.
Russian gas for the government green transition
That the government says one thing, but does something completely different because of Janković, was further demonstrated by the decision this week, which was overlooked by most of the media. The government has decided to refuse to amend the European regulation to reduce gas imports from Russia by fifteen percent, because Janković will start heating Ljubljana with gas, and we will greatly increase imports. Janković once unsuccessfully tried to take over Mercator, but later, during the government of Alenka Bratušek, it was taken over by Russian banks from his party by selling it to the collapsing Croatian Agrokor at half the price they would have received for the same deal during the government of Borut Pahor a few years earlier. Already after the Russian occupation of Crimea, Janković went to Moscow with the decoration awarded to him by the dictator Vladimir Putin. He did not return the award even after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Janković can also be found during all the mass visits from Moscow to Slovenia in recent years, he even appeared at the dinner of the justice chiefs of the two countries and at the last visit of Marjan Šarec, who as the last head of the Slovenian government travelled to Moscow just before he threw in the towel.
“In the TE-TOL unit, managed by Energetika Ljubljana, Ltd., a gas steam unit is expected to start operating this year, which will replace coal. It is a longer-term investment that was already in the realisation phase before the start of the war in Ukraine. This is expected to lead to an increase in demand for gas in Slovenia by approximately 15-20%. Slovenia therefore expects that this fact will be considered with an appropriate exception in the final text of the proposal, as it believes that member states should not be penalised for green transition measures. Otherwise, Slovenia will not support the proposed Council regulation.”
When the media is controlled by a party that is anti-NATO and pro-Putin
Golob’s voters did not reject an abundant government in the referendum, they were blindsided even when Golob’s government decided not to hurry with the care of the elderly and postponed the additional measures enacted by the previous government in the field of long-term care for the elderly. Now comes the consequences of that. The country is losing European money that has already been allocated to it for this area.
There was also a law in the referendum, with which the ruling parties try to immediately remove the entire top of RTV Slovenia, so that Svoboda, SD, and Levica can still appoint their directors and editors there. The project was stalled at the Constitutional Court.
An important detail is that the Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for the field of media, and many of the largest media are state-owned and heavily state-financed, was handed over by Prime Minister Golob to the Levica party, which is in favour of leaving NATO and against military aid to Ukraine, saying that if Ukraine resists aggression, it hinders “peace”. Instead of the word “peace” we could also use “Putin’s colonial and territorial plans”.
It is known that Putin and Moscow throughout Europe and the world strongly supported far left and right-wing politicians, parties and the media, and good relations were reliably strengthened by the money that flowed and continues to flow in covert ways.
What could possibly go wrong for Golob in the green transition with additional gas consumption, which usually comes from Russia, taking care of water with Janković’s sewerage over water sources and with the media of the Levica, which is against the western alliance of democratic countries NATO?
The column was originally published on the Spletni časopis portal.