By: G. B.
Vanja Vardjan resigned from the position of the editor-in-chief of the entertainment programme at Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS). RTVS Director Ksenija Horvat has already accepted his resignation. The reason for the resignation is alleged irregularities in the selection of the Slovenian song for the Eurovision Song Contest, according to STA.
As reported by RTVS, Vardjan offered his resignation due to concerns for the well-being of RTVS, the entertainment programme of TV Slovenia (TVS), the Slovenian Eurovision selection, and the chosen performer. With his resignation, he aims to enable an impartial determination of facts regarding the Eurovision Song Contest selection. RTVS emphasised that the initial review did not reveal any signs of corrupt actions. However, procedures to investigate potential irregularities will be carried out.
Allegations of potential irregularities in the implementation of the Eurovision Song Contest selection project are already being examined by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (CPC). According to the N1 portal, CPC received a report in early January with accusations of alleged irregularities in the conduct of the public competition for selecting this year’s representative for the Eurovision competition. Slovenia will be represented by Raiven with the song Veronika at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest. The music video of the Slovenian representative has almost half a million views, as mentioned in the latest statement from RTV Slovenia.
RTV Slovenia revealed the selection of Raiven for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest at a press conference in December. The singer was chosen from over a hundred applicants. Similarly, last year, the group Joker Out was selected for the Eurovision performance. Previously, the selection of the Slovenian song for Eurovision took place at the RTV Slovenia EMA event, where the representative was chosen through audience telephone voting and the votes of a professional jury. The last EMA event was in 2022 when the group LPS was chosen for the Eurovision performance.
It is clear that the RTV Slovenia Public Relations Department will not disclose the whole truth and may omit certain facts. Recent reports have already highlighted instances where RTVS allegedly provided false information regarding the salaries of employees under new contracts, including those from the discontinued Panorama show and some well-known journalists like Valentin Areh. Incidentally, Vanja Vardjan was a correspondent in Belgrade in the late nineties.
According to Bojan Požar, Vardjan’s resignation may have been triggered by the intervention of Rok Smole, the assistant director of Ksenija Horvat. Smole is the same person who reportedly signed the controversial orders for sending journalists, including editor Rajko Gerič, on temporary leave. The management of TVS allegedly almost decimated the entertainment programme due to financial reasons, without consulting the editor. The Eurovision representative affair might have been the final straw.
Well, it must be acknowledged that some previous public selections of Slovenia’s representative for Eurovision have stirred controversy. Recall the infamous performance of Sestre in 2002, where rumours circulated about strong support from the then editor of the entertainment programme, Miša Molk, and discussions of significant backstage manoeuvring within the professional juries. The last EMA selection event took place in 2020, but the Eurovision Song Contest was subsequently cancelled due to the pandemic. The winner of EMA 2020, Ana Soklič, recorded a new song for EMA 2021. Since then, representatives have been selected internally, and the details of this process are not publicly known. This internal selection process was first introduced in 2013 but later returned to the previous system.
Bojan Požar also mentioned that Rok Smolej, previously discussed, was one of the whistle-blowers who reported to the CPC. Smolej is said to be a good friend of the controversial Nika Kovač. Additionally, Požar claimed that Smolej independently convened editorial meetings for the entertainment programme, behind Vardjan’s back.
Among the whistle-blowers were also Astrid Kljun and Alenka Gotar. Alenka Gotar, a former Slovenian Eurovision representative, is currently employed at the Ministry of Culture.
Now the question arises whether Vardjan, similar to Areh, was “not radical enough” for those who are “fuc*ing more” and sacrificed him for their games. Even though both Vardjan and Areh are far from any form of “Janšism”. Certainly, Vardjan’s resignation is another blow to the advocates of depoliticising public broadcaster RTV. The strength of this stance will become apparent in the coming days.