By: S. K. (Nova24TV.si)
On the eve of Slovenia’s cultural holiday, a state celebration took place last night in Cankar Hall. Instead of being a heartfelt tribute to culture, it once again included inappropriate political posturing by Zdenka Badovinac, the chair of the Prešeren Fund’s management board.
At the state celebration held last night in Cankar Hall on the eve of Slovenia’s cultural holiday, the highest national awards for artistic achievements were traditionally presented. Instead of the event being cantered on a tribute to culture, it once again featured inappropriate political posturing by Zdenka Badovinac, the chair of the Prešeren Fund’s management board, who used her role as keynote speaker to spread left‑wing propaganda: she resorted to fearmongering about threats to freedom of speech and promoting demilitarisation.
Badovinac emphasised that militarism is becoming increasingly visible in Europe and the United States. “Something similar could happen overnight in Slovenia as well. That is why we must say stop to those who want to silence civil society and contemporary art,” she said, according to STA, speaking as if we lived in some kind of security vacuum where nothing bad could ever happen to us. Her moralising about militarisation at a time when a war is raging in the east of the continent would undoubtedly be applauded by the Russian aggressor, who has shown Europe that the era of taking security for granted is over, and who certainly has no interest in Europe recognising its own vulnerability and investing in defence, an area it has neglected for far too long.
Since the speaker is also a candidate for the Levica party in the European Parliament elections, it is hardly surprising that her speech warned against shrinking space for freedom of expression and artistic creation. “Slovenia is still an island of freedom. And this is largely thanks to our civil society, which is one of the most progressive in Europe,” she said, receiving applause. This is unsurprising, as fearmongering about threats to freedom of speech and creativity is a convenient pre‑election theme for the left. But one should not forget that this same political bloc controls the cultural sector and civil society, structures that most recently ensured the installation of the ideologically “correct.”
No speech without mentioning fascism
According to the speaker, what connects people around the world “more than anything else is the breakdown of humanity, helplessness and guilt in the face of unstoppable genocidal wars, and fear and anxiety over apocalyptic predictions about the fate of the planet.” She also warned that the rule of law is under threat in today’s world. And once again, despite it being the year 2026, she could not resist mentioning fascism, recalling the centenary of the death of poet Srečko Kosovel. “The relevance of Kosovel’s poetry today, in which he wrote about the brutality of fascist violence and the mechanisation of the human being, is astonishing,” she stated.
This year’s Prešeren laureates are choreographer and dancer Mateja Bučar and industrial designer Saša Janez Mächtig. The Prešeren Fund Awards for significant artistic achievements of the past three years went to composer Petra Strahovnik, visual artist Jasmina Cibic, poet Ana Pepelnik, director and cinematographer Gregor Božič, screenwriter and director Petra Seliškar, and actress Tina Vrbnjak.
Since culture represents the heart of an entire nation, it would undoubtedly be right for major cultural events not to be used as tools for imposing any kind of ideology. Prešeren Day should truly be a celebration of culture.
