By: Davorin Kopše
While in many areas the importance of cooperation and how we are stronger together is becoming increasingly apparent, the old practice of exclusion and disabling continues in Slovenian politics. Slovenia already faces challenges that would be wise and useful to tackle together. Activities related to the presidency of the Council of the EU will intensify again next month, and it is becoming increasingly clear that autumn will bring a new wave of coronavirus infections. In addition to the two main already known themes of the coming period, a new wave of migrants is knocking on our door, this time being announced as the main stream from Afghanistan.
The substantively and structurally weak coalition in the opposition, previously called KUL, shows more and more old cracks. These are old wounds from the times of the government of Marjan Šarec, which are opening up more and more. It is a completely incompatible group with strong ambitions of individuals to be prime ministers, which strengthens mutual rivalry and weakens trust. In recent days, the head and owner of the Marjan Šarec List, LMŠ, Marjan Šarec, has once again proved that this is the case, sending a public letter to his subordinate partners, where there was no lack of patronage and authoritarian policies.
Public letter as a political slip
Marjan Šarec wrote a public letter to his political partners, urging them to sign a pre-election agreement. The method has made it clear that the main purpose of this letter is to draw attention to himself and to his party, which has been steadily sliding towards the bottom for some time. Why else would he call on his political companions in the middle of the summer to sign anything? According to their agreement that they will not undertake independent political actions until the autumn, the letter turned out to be another failed action that has nothing to do with politics. In style we do not check to see if there is water in the pool and how warm it is, we just jump.
The poor image of the Slovenian KUL opposition was also strengthened by the content of the letter. Šarec introduced himself as the supreme leader and the only one with a mission that can give guidance with instructions on how to act. He pointed out the exclusion of the president of the largest party in the country (SDS) and Prime Minister Janez Janša as the only starting point for achieving his destructive goals. The substantive emptiness of the letter is evidenced by the claim that the four opposition parties have proved how together they can. In doing so, he leaned on the constitutional accusation, constructive no confidence vote, interpellations and even the convening of extraordinary sessions, all of which were ineffective in turn, nevertheless he described all of the above as a success.
In classic whining he further writes about unbearable hate speech, hypocrisy, intolerant actions, systematic stumbling… One cannot believe the traumas experienced by an opposition leader because he fails to achieve the only life goal, which is the elimination of the most successful politician in the country Janez Janša. After a few additional clichés, he concluded the letter with three points of commitment to be fulfilled after the election. The party leader, who still does not have his own programme, gives guidance to the rest on how to act in the time prior to elections and what to do in the elections under his patronage.
LMŠ does not have a programme yet, but it has a letter
Marjan Šarec is waiting for the morning, while the sun is already high in the sky. At a time when Slovenia is normalising after a series of disastrous left wing parties, Šarec is calling for the normalisation of the country. He even calls for a return to constitutional foundations, while forgetting that past authorities, including his own, have not been able to implement constitutional decisions to ensure equal funding for public school programmes in private schools. He even dared to write that they, as the successors of the opponents of independence and enemies of the independence activist Janez Janša, would return Slovenia to the fundamental values of independence, which also brought us to the European Union and NATO.
Mentioning a strong and solid government that will exclude from politics all those currently in power is a perverse point of ignorance and a charlatan political plan in the midst of parliamentary democracy in force in Slovenia. Of course, all these dreams are pigs about the grain into which Marjan Šarec threw in his towel, but it is worth paying attention to precisely because the elections are irresistibly approaching. We should not go to the polls again with our eyes closed, and it is even worse to stay at home because of the display of confusion in politics. What the left destructive policy shows us is certainly not the general situation in the country. This is evidenced by the success of the current government in domestic policy, attitudes towards local communities and participating foreign policy. Together, they provide good conditions for the economic development that has already begun. Pointers!
What the deep state that brought him to politics thinks about Marjan Šarec, we could read in Delo, which has many attributes of the newsletter of this same deep state. Suzana Kos wrote there about Marjan Šarec’s letter: A blank letter written to colleagues by LMŠ champion Marjan Šarec shows fear of SD and the match with Tanja Fajon. They added: LMŠ does not have a programme yet, but it has a letter. With this, Delo announced that it is currently on the side of Tanja Fajon and SD. With this, Šarec has already been practically defeated within his opposition coalition. It looks like he will finally shrink by the election. Just like his predecessors in the formations of Golobič’s Zares, Jankovič’s Positive Slovenia, and Virant’s Citizens’ List.
Decades of ignorance about Afghanistan
Afghanistan is the center of the region of countries where Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran are located. Despite its geographical proximity to Europe, this is a completely different world than we Europeans know. Because it is based on completely different values, we also do not understand it. In 1979-1989, the people there were tried to be disciplined and subjugated by the Russians. In this country, which even the imperialists could not get to, the Soviet Union completely broke its teeth in ten years, and in the end, because of that, it first collapsed and then fell apart.
After the withdrawal of the Soviet Union, Muslim state radicalism began to consolidate again, which began to show its global interests at a time of accelerated globalisation of the world. There, the international Islamist terrorist organisation Al Qaeda under the leadership of Emir (Arab nobleman) Osama bin Laden was given important refuge. He became best known for organising the attack on the American Shopping Center in New York (WTC), where a little less than three thousand people died. It is because of the activities of this terrorist organisation in Afghanistan that the Americans and their allies have declared a new war on this country.
Twenty years of the presence of Western military forces, diplomacy and other personnel were not enough to reverse the centuries-old or millennial tradition of Afghans. All these years of presence in foreign territory, they have been trying to integrate their way of life and Western democracy into a world that does not understand it. They tried to teach them how to fight according to the standards that apply in NATO countries. Although they showed a considerable lack of interest in training all the time and did not understand modern technology at all, the Allies continued to do so and ultimately erred in assessing the Government Army’s readiness to defend against the still existing and powerful Taliban.
Wrong assessment
The combat readiness of military units has three basic sets. It consists of an assessment of the armament, training and motivation/morale of the members. The regular Afghan army was relatively well armed. The donated weapons and equipment in many ways exceeded the real capabilities of the army or its members, which were formed on the model of the Western world. Afghans have shown a lack of interest in training all along. They were often absent from day-to-day training, making it impossible to train units as a whole for effective combat operations. It is not unimportant to know that many have also worked with the Taliban all along. In the end, they chose the side where the moral had drawn them more, where they felt more at home. Due to the poor assessment, the entire twenty-year military and diplomatic operation was unsuccessful. Of course, it is easy to be a general after a battle, and the fact remains that throughout the West’s operations in Afghanistan, the shortcomings of doing so have been apparent, but politics has stubbornly persisted by turning a blind eye to it. Analyses will show who has failed the most and whether anyone may have even concealed the facts.
A great burden will undoubtedly fall on the intelligence activity, which, in my estimation, has completely failed on the exam. Politics and the military apparently had completely wrong information about the Taliban resistance, or they had not even had them. That they initially predicted at least a year of resistance by government forces in Kabul, which they later shortened to 90 days, is a shame in one word. The Taliban not only reached Kabul unhindered, but entered it with virtually no ammunition. They established their authority over the entire area in just a few days, maybe weeks. In this way, the military, along with intelligence, failed the exam from the assessment of government forces and Taliban forces. To the best of my knowledge, this has so far only happened to the Yugoslav People’s Army in Slovenia in 1991.
Where in this story will analysts find US President Joe Biden and his administration is difficult to predict, but it is already known that by withdrawing from Afghanistan it wanted to promote itself by cancelling the plan of former President Donald Trump, which provided for a gradual withdrawal of Western Allies. The retreat carried out by the Biden’s was seen as a headless escape. Biden is embarrassed by this.
The echo of the Afghan crisis in Slovenia and Europe
All analysts point to a new wave of migrants, this time sweeping through Iran and Turkey towards Europe. This is not difficult to predict, but we must be aware that both countries will be actively involved in this, as they both want more power in relation to Europe and the rest of the Western world. As these are countries that are much more economically and financially tied to the West, it is possible to influence their cooperation, but diplomacy and politics in particular will have to show much greater determination than before.
We can deeply deplore the events in Afghanistan, where women will once again take the hardest hit and children will suffer as a result, even though the Taliban promises to provide women with education and other rights. If we also hear their message that the country will be subject to Sharia law, we must immediately question their sincerity and good intentions. Those who do not agree with this regime will leave the country for a long time, will be imprisoned, tortured or sentenced to death, so it is very important that they do not settle in Europe because of all the above cultural and religious differences.
Strengthening the Schengen border regime
External borders are very important for the European Union and must be protected and secured with all responsibility. Even more important are the Schengen borders, as these are the borders that separate areas within the EU to those where, in principle, there are no border controls, from those where these controls are still carried out. For this reason, and in connection with the announced new wave of migrants from Afghanistan, the initiative of two Prime Ministers Janez Janša and Andrej Plenković to move the Schengen border from the Slovenian southern to the Croatian southern border is important for Slovenia and Europe. In this way, both countries will find it easier to cooperate economically, and they can also cooperate, if necessary, in border protection in the south of Croatia.
Slovenia still has the option of protecting its border in the classic way, as it is doing now, if necessary, which is in line with EU regulations. All the calls that began to appear after the victory of the Taliban to send an army to the Slovenian southern border are a howl to the moon. The Slovenian Army is already at the border, assisting the police. There remains a political problem that prevents additional powers for the army (disabled by KUL), as it is not possible to provide a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly for this. With the movement of the Schengen border, this problem will be alleviated, the forces will be relieved, which could enable us to “lend” them to the Croats. Mistakes in protecting Europe’s borders are increasingly unacceptable.
Unfortunately, we also have our Taliban in Slovenia. These can be found in the ranks of the parties that make up the KUL, in the Constitutional Court, in the office of the Information Commissioner, in various NGOs and among human rights defenders, to whom this is only a disguise, under which they mainly lower the smokescreens and make it impossible for the government to take action so that it can be subsequently convicted for failing to act. It is about power and privilege. An election year is coming, and we have learned from Afghanistan that a misjudgement can be fatal.
Davorin Kopše is a veteran of the war for Slovenia, a candidate for the European Parliament and an active citizen