By: Dr Metod Berlec
The pre‑election period in Slovenia is revealing growing nervousness within the ruling coalition. Instead of addressing the country’s real challenges, Robert Golob’s government has become entangled in confrontations with online influencers – and in a manner that goes beyond what a democratic society should consider reasonable.
The case of Aleksandar Repić, who was critical of the prime minister and his “burek” politics, has become a symbol of this decline. Upon returning from Dubai last week, he was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation, which triggered widespread outrage, especially after information surfaced that the arrest had allegedly been ordered by the prime minister himself. The ruling coalition is losing the battle on social media, where it had long relied on the support of influencers who were critical of the previous Janša government. When the tide turned, the government resorted to extreme measures. Convening the Secretariat of the National Security Council – over Instagram posts – was the peak of exaggeration. Criticism from social media users was presented as a cyberattack on the state, even though it was in reality a heated public reaction to the questionable behaviour of an egocentric prime minister and the Freedom Movement. Instead of addressing serious security issues, the government dramatized communication problems on Instagram as if the stability of the country depended on it.
Meanwhile, as Slovenia obsesses over Instagram, the world is shaken by a new escalation of war. The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran’s theocratic regime has triggered global alarm. Many countries promptly urged their citizens to leave the region, as it was clear Iran would retaliate. But the Slovenian government failed once again. Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon disappointed yet again. Instead of clearly supporting the freedom of Iranian women and men, she appeared more sympathetic to the interests of the theocratic authorities than to the plight of people longing for democratic change. Even worse: the Slovenian Foreign Ministry did not warn citizens in time to avoid travelling to the Persian Gulf. While the U.S., the U.K., Poland, Germany, France and others were withdrawing staff and urging their citizens to leave, Slovenian tourists were calmly heading off on holiday. In recent days, many of them (some still today) have been stranded in Dubai and other parts of the region, without clear information and without timely assistance from their own state. A government willing to convene a national security body over Instagram was unable to protect its own citizens from real danger in a crisis zone. This is the clearest sign of how deeply the politics of the ruling transitional left has sunk.
Meanwhile, the Ljubljana District Court has finally managed to serve an indictment to the central figure of the Fotopub affair, Dušan Smodej. The indictment accuses him of sexual violence, enabling the use of illegal drugs, and causing bodily harm. It seems that our reporting on this scandalous affair has at least partly contributed to this development…