By: Dr Metod Berlec
The Republic of Slovenia has, with Golob’s neo-socialist government, one of the worst if not the worst government in its over three decades of history. Not only is Prime Minister Robert Golob problematic with his controversial business dealings and incompetent leadership, but practically the entire ministerial team is as well.
This once again demonstrates the events in the first two weeks of the new year. The Minister of Environment, Climate, and Energy, Bojan Kumer, has prepared a revised energy law for the needs of the so-called green transition, which, if accepted by the national assembly, will significantly restrict, if not entirely ban, heating with gas and wood. In the case of the latter, this is undoubtedly an unparalleled absurdity, as Slovenia is among the most forested countries in Europe. Approximately 1.2 million hectares of forests represent 58.2% of the country’s surface area, or 0.6 hectares of forest per citizen. And it is clear that we should rely on the available energy sources, rather than excessively limit, or even prohibit their use in the name of eco-fundamentalist plans for decarbonising the world by 2050. Dr Vito Bobek recently warned about this in an interview for our magazine. “Actually, we have never had CO₂ levels as low as we have now in the past.” According to him, all of this is a deception and destructively harmful to our civilisation, even more so for poorer countries.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, together with Golob’s government, has been acting incredibly detrimentally to Slovenian and European interests lately. Last Thursday, the government decided that Slovenia would participate in proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the alleged controversial actions of Israel in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This process was initiated by the UN General Assembly based on a resolution from December 2022, which Slovenia supported at that time. Fajon acknowledged that Slovenia is one of the few EU countries actively participating in this proceeding to present its positions. This decision is made because European countries are aware of their stronger cultural connections with Israel than with the Palestinians. The ICJ scheduled the oral hearings for the case to begin on February 19th, with Slovenia’s turn to present its views set for February 23rd. This case is separate from South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel at the ICJ, accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention. According to Fajon, Slovenia cannot join that case until the court decides whether it will adjudicate it. However, it is scandalous that such consideration is taking place, as Israel did not initiate the conflict in Gaza; it began with a brutal attack by the terrorist organisation Hamas on Israel.
In this issue of the magazine, the main article particularly highlights the scandalous conduct of the Minister for Digital Transformation, Emilija Stojmenova Duh. She spent 6.5 million euros of taxpayers’ money on 13,000 laptops that appear unwanted and unnecessary, and their whereabouts are unknown. Doubts have arisen about the adequate quality of the purchased laptops, leading the SDS party to contemplate filing an interpellation against the minister, known for extravagance and global congress tourism. A similar “gem” is Minister of Justice, Dominika Švarc Pipan, who, at the end of last year, ensured that the government, during a correspondence session, adopted a resolution on the inclusion of the purchase of a building for the needs of the judiciary at Litijska Street 51 in Ljubljana, valued at 7.7 million euros. Švarc Pipan promptly signed the contract with the seller, Sebastjan Vežnaver’s company, and transferred the purchase amount the next day, despite the standard 30-day payment terms in public administration. When this became public, she began complicating matters with excuses about her alleged irresponsibility in this deal. It turned out that she overpaid for the building by around 6 million euros, the ministry did not order an appraisal, and they did not verify the conditions even in the records of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia (Gurs). Consequently, the ministry paid for about two thousand square meters more than the actual size of the building. At the same time, Švarc Pipan seems incapable of addressing judiciary issues (judicial strikes), just as Minister of Health Valentina Prevolnik Rupel is incapable of addressing healthcare issues (doctors’ strikes).
To top it off, last week, members of the ruling coalition added to the situation by confirming to the public a previously unknown figure, Mateja Čalušić, as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food. Before becoming a member of the Gibanje Svoboda party, she gained work experience as an administrator and manager of a local establishment and as an advisor for phytosanitary products. Until recently, she presented herself with an alleged “administrative mistake”, claiming a university degree she does not possess.