By: T. B.
Foreign Minister Tone Kajzer on Friday sharply rejected reporting by the Brussels portal Euractiv and Slovenian media about an alleged criticism of Slovenia by seven EU member states. In a post on the social network X, he wrote that this is misleading and a political spin that cannot change the facts.
“None of the mentioned countries criticised Slovenia or the Slovenian government. The discussion concerned only the nomination procedure within the EU and the conduct of the competent European institutions. Claiming that seven countries ‘criticised Slovenia’ is therefore simply untrue,” Tone Kajzer emphasised.
Slovenia is a sovereign state
Euractiv reported on 7 August in an exclusive article that seven countries, including France and Spain, at the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states on 22 July, criticised the way the nomination process was conducted when the Danish candidate was appointed, and intervened in support of Fajon. France allegedly regretted the lack of transparency and the use of informal channels, Spain pointed out too little time to assess the new candidate and possible consequences for the EEAS, while Spain, Romania and Belgium abstained from voting, and similar concerns were expressed by Romania, Luxembourg and Slovakia. The main left‑leaning media quickly picked up the report and presented it as criticism of Slovenia or its government, which Kajzer called untrue, saying the discussion concerned only the internal EU procedure and the conduct of European institutions.
The minister explained that Slovenia merely pointed out specific procedural and substantive concerns regarding the candidacy of former foreign minister Tanja Fajon for EU Special Representative for the Sahel. According to him, this is Slovenia’s legitimate right and responsibility.
The matter dates back to July, when the new government of Janez Janša intervened against Fajon’s appointment. After pressure from Ljubljana, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, withdrew her candidacy and proposed the runner‑up, Danish diplomat Birgitte Nygaard Markussen, who was then appointed. The government also filed a criminal complaint against Fajon over alleged irregularities in her application for the post.
As previously reported, according to findings of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the opinion of the Government Office for Legislation, the candidacy was submitted outside the competent authority: it was never decided on by Robert Golob’s government, which at the time was already performing only caretaker duties, nor was it reviewed by the government commission for personnel and administrative matters, nor was the parliamentary committee for EU affairs informed. The nomination letter was signed not by the government but by the ministry’s secretary‑general, Barbara Žvokelj, who was directly subordinate to Fajon. The entire procedure and communication took place solely via email between the two of them, without involvement of the HR department, diplomatic missions, or established institutional channels.