Dear Commissioner, Mrs. Jourová,
On Friday, 23 of October 2020, the “Action group of cultural workers” placed a series of objects in front of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia. Objects that showed a clear message of death of the Minister of Culture and his close associates. The scene, as seen from the attached images, represents the office after the murder: tables with the names of the minister and his co-workers, covered with red paint representing blood. Among the names of the officials covered in blood is also Miro Petek, an adviser to the Minister, so far the only journalist in independent Slovenia who has been physically attacked and a victim of an attempted murder. He was lying in the real blood once and after seeing this “performance”, his family was deeply shocked on Friday.
It is understandable and right, that politics should be tolerant towards provocations, but facing threats of death, not only to politicians but also to officials who do their job, these kinds of actions must be clearly condemned.
Anonymous installation creators hid behind the identity of their organization, said the Minister of Culture, but their political activism very much relates to totalitarian methods. Any reference to an artistic act or an innocent metaphorical gesture is in this case merely a pretext. In the history of art, we witnessed stories of many artistic protests that have incorporated symbolism, ambiguity, or imagination into their expression. In this case, however, the performance expressed nothing but an open and unequivocal threat of death, a call for murder and massacre. While invoking democracy, creators of the bespoken “installation” are actually abusing it with their actions, destroying it and consciously creating an atmosphere that encourages violence. It is obvious that some of the supporters and members of some of these non-governmental organizations want to take the law into their own hands.
Noticing the rise of acts of violence in the EU in recent years, the recent threat of the death to the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and his associates must be taken into serious consideration while monitoring the events in the Member States. The organizers of the Friday’s “installation” are namely those who actively tarnish the reputation of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in the world and derive their funds from the EU budget.
Dear Commissioner, such actions must not be tolerated in the EU in the 2020, therefore we ask for your quickest esteemed response.
Sincerely yours,
Romana Tomc, MEP
dr. Milan Zver, MEP
Franc Bogovič MEP
Attachment:
Pictures taken by officials of the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 23. 10. 2020
