“NGOs are not a disturbing element on its own, but they are housed in a building where we would like to start our investment cycle, thus they will have to leave this building sooner or later,” Minister of Culture Vasko Simoniti told Nova24TV, after the Friday protest where protestors expressed their disapproval of the announced eviction. The Ministry of Culture has its own program, which is feasible with the new budget and the government’s willingness to start implementing the investment cycle as soon as possible.
In a protest against the eviction, non-governmental organizations blocked the road in front of the Ministry with “street art” yesterday. Red paint, which symbolizes blood, was poured on school desks, and the names of employees at the ministry were written on the desks. One of the names written was Miro Petek, who had been brutally beaten and nearly killed in the past because of his work. The protesters also threatened Minister of Culture, dr. Vasko Simoniti, Vesna Jurca Tadel, Alenka Gotar and Mitja Iršič.
The Ministry of Culture has announced its decision that users of the building on Metelkova ulica in Ljubljana, which is owned by the Ministry, must leave the premises. Most of them are non-governmental organizations, which have to vacate the premises by the end of January. Their leases expired years ago, Minister said, and most do not even pay rent. The building has become uninhabitable, so we would like to renovate it. However, the NGOs refuse to leave Metelkova and say that they will resist attacks on the civil society, democracy and independent culture. They are also supported by the party Levica.
The premises for NGOs are available elsewhere in Slovenia
“The renovated house or complex will serve museum activities, we expect to give priority to the Natural History Museum, which is one of the most” endangered “museums in the sense that it has no space capacity,” Simoniti explained the Ministry’s plans. An Ethnological Museum and part of the National Museum would also be moved here, and part of these buildings would also belong to the Modern Gallery complex. Regarding Rog, the minister said that he was not exactly acquainted with the content and did not know what the current situation was. He explained: “NGOs do not have any direct contact with culture at all, even though some people think that. They will have to find a place elsewhere. I don’t know why this is a problem as there is space in many places in Slovenia available to them,” Simoniti added as well as that he did not understand why everyone imagined that the NGOs should have space in Ljubljana, and on top of everything, for free.
The Minister of Culture hopes that they will be able to upgrade their creativity properly and to the right extent
“I hope that this disease, I call it the plague, will not leave any consequences on the budget, which will hopefully remain as intended,” said Minister of Culture towards the end of the conversation, explaining that the funds available in the budget for culture will be allocated mainly to investments, and the rest will be allocated to other areas of culture. “I hope that we will be able to properly upgrade the creativity that I talk about most of the time.” Regarding the preparation of the new media legislation, Simoniti explained that the coalition had presented the first version of the media legislation, but then there were some delays, but the extension for comments expired in September. “I have already received the amended laws and I will send them to the government procedure after the review,” he concluded.
