By: Dr Metod Berlec
More than three decades after democratisation and independence, the Balkan mentality and Balkan-mafia style of operation are increasingly spreading in our country. This is symbolised by the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, who has been leading the Slovenian capital for almost two decades.
Things are no better in Slovenia’s second-largest city, Maribor, which is now in its second term under the leadership of Saša Arsenović. The situation has been further worsened by the highly detrimental government of Robert Golob, which abolished the Office for Demography, the Museum of Slovenian Independence, and the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Communist Violence, and has made a series of decisions that go against the interests of our national state. The leftist mainstream often behaves as if Slovenia’s independence in 1991 never even happened – as if we are part of the Balkans rather than a Central European country. As a result, we are witnessing an extremely exaggerated emphasis on the supposed injustice suffered by the so-called “erased” individuals in 1992, including even the erection of a monument in the shape of the letter ć. Meanwhile, in our capital, major construction and infrastructure deals are being taken over by businessmen of Serbian or Bosnian Serb origin, closely connected to Ljubljana’s mayor Zoran Janković and the government of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić.
What is interesting is that Zoran Janković maintains friendships on both sides: with Vučić – who is supposed to be a centre-right politician (his Serbian Progressive Party is a member of the European People’s Party) – and, on the other hand, with Milan Kučan, the last president of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Slovenia and the first president of independent Slovenia, who has supported him for years. Janković’s public support for Vučić – who is currently being challenged by student protests in Serbia – has caused considerable unease among the Slovenian left and sparked some mild protests, but the controversial mayor of Ljubljana has not been seriously threatened. This is despite the fact that Janković blurs the line between public and private interests and governs Ljubljana according to his Balkan-style wheeler-dealer mentality.
In recent days, it has once again become evident that the post-communist network, led by Kučan and including control over the judiciary (with the Supreme Court of Slovenia chaired by Miodrag Đorđević), is systematically targeting SDS leader Janez Janša. Meanwhile, corruption-suspect Janković is left untouched – or even acquitted. At the same time, preparations are underway for the emergence of a so-called “new face,” which will most likely be MEP Vladimir Prebilič. On Sunday evening, the president of GS and prime minister, Robert Golob, felt the pressure firsthand during a segment on POP TV. Because he is not obedient enough, he was clearly reminded that there is no such thing as a free lunch – not even a supposedly free holiday with Tina Gaber in Istria, in a seaside villa owned by a Slovenian-Czech businessman.