By: Jože Biščak
Considering officially available records (citizenships granted after independence and now valid residence permits), the share of Slovenians in our own country is already less than 80 percent. However, if we also consider the second and third generation of non-natives (born in Slovenia, but with non-native roots), this share falls below 65 percent.
Some believe that this is an exaggeration, others that this estimate is very conservative and that the share of indigenous people in Slovenia is even smaller. Of course, there is no exact number. Also, because it is no longer necessary to define ethnicity in the population census. The last such census was in 2002, and even then, the share of ethnically foreign residents was 17%. Golob’s government will further accelerate the denationalisation and multiculturalisation of Slovenia with legislative changes. “Our aim is to make Slovenian society open and more inclusive through various legal solutions, strategic documents and measures,” the Ministry of the Interior (MNZ) wrote.
Slovenian language
The government wants to change the Law on Foreigners, which should enable faster issuance of residence permits, and the Law on Employment of Foreigners, which should facilitate the employment of foreign citizens (including in the public sector). In doing so, it lowers the standards of knowledge of the Slovene language for foreigners and annuls the regulation adopted by Janša’s government – that foreigners who apply for a temporary permit must master the Slovene language: a condition for knowledge of the Slovene language at a basic level for a foreigner entering the country for the first time, and at a more demanding level for those foreigners who have been living in Slovenia for several years. Taxpayer financing of Slovene language courses was also limited, thus the coalition at the time tightened the conditions for obtaining a temporary residence permit for family members of a foreigner, a citizen of a third country.
The Ministry of Interior stated in a press release that the amendment to the Aliens Act removes administrative obstacles, but the condition of knowledge of the Slovenian language is not removed. However, the level of knowledge of the language with which a foreigner “easily communicates in everyday situations related to the realisation of concrete needs” is sufficient. Because of this, non-governmental organisations jumped into the air, saying that the condition of knowledge of Slovenian should be deleted completely, as this condition is supposed to make “family reunification” impossible. In any case, the amendment to the law will ease the conditions, which will increase immigration to Slovenia, since language is one of the foundations of sovereignty and national recognition.
The invasion of a foreign culture
In general, the Slovene language in everyday communication today suffers from the intrusion of (mainly Balkan) foreign words, in some cities (Velenje, Kranj) the foreign language is almost dominant on the street. Even in employment (especially in shops) the standards are very low, as Slovenians often hear foreign accents and the use of foreign words (especially with numbers and the use of the dual). But it is not just about language. Foreign culture and customs invade the everyday life of Slovenians. Loud talking, shouting over store shelves and loud music in cars with open windows are just some of the customs that are foreign to Slovenian culture. Multiculturalism begins to dominate the indigenous population precisely with such “little things”. The worst thing is that even the locals, especially the youth, have become susceptible to them.
Foreigners in Slovenia
At the end of last year, according to data from the Slovenian Statistical Office (SURS), 28,915 foreigners from EU countries and 202,279 foreigners from third countries had permanent or temporary residence permits, i.e., more than 230,000 or 8.1 percent of the population. This is 100,000 more than in 2016. The Chinese virus pandemic has slowed the growth in the number of permits in 2020 and 2021, otherwise between 15,000 and 25,000 new residence permits are issued per year. More than half of foreigners from third countries were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 18 percent from Kosovo, 11 percent from Serbia and slightly less than 10 percent from Macedonia. Of the citizens of EU countries (or the Swiss Federation), the largest number of citizens of Croatia (just under half) have a valid permit, followed by citizens of Bulgaria, Italy, and Germany.
For Slovenians, it is even more worrying that Slovenia (right after Sweden) in the EU has the largest share of foreign children (mainly from the Balkans) aged up to 15 who have obtained a residence permit for “family reasons”. In 2021, according to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), there were 1,142 such children per 100,000 living in Slovenia (33 more than in 2020).
A special chapter covers granted citizenships (with regular or extraordinary naturalisation). Since independence, Slovenia has granted more than 230,000 citizenships; mostly around the time of independence, in recent years the number of new citizens varies between one thousand and two thousand per year.
Slovenes will soon be foreigners in Slovenia
Slovenia is hurrying along the path so that the non-natives will prevail over the natives. This is reflected in some regions and also in politics. The mayor of the capital (Zoran Janković) is a foreigner, and Ljubljana in general is quickly turning into a strange multicultural mixture. In 1961, there were “only” 6.3 percent of non-Slovenes in Ljubljana’s municipalities, in 1991 it was already a good 22 percent, according to the last census, where nationality was also defined (2002), almost 30 percent (considering Ljubljana as a city municipality). It is hard to say how many there are today. According to the statistics office, only foreigners (foreigners with a residence permit) make up 13 percent.
If we combine the two data, probably already more than 40 percent of the inhabitants of the municipality of Ljubljana are of foreign descent and roots. That is why it is not surprising that Janković wins the local elections, none of the Slovenians even come close to his result for mayor. This is a disaster for the nation. Obalno-Kraška region also has a high share of foreigners (more than 13 percent). Among the local municipalities, Sežana stands out, where the share approaches a fifth of the total population. Of course, this does not include residents with Slovenian citizenship, but of foreign roots. It is interesting that left-wing political parties win mainly in regions and municipalities where the share of non-natives is high, while right-wing parties win where the share of indigenous Slovenes is the largest.
No real data
The number of inhabitants of Slovenia is increasing and exceeds 2.1 million, but the share of native inhabitants of the young country, that is, of Slovene descent, is decreasing, which means that the number of inhabitants is increasing thanks to immigration (mainly from the Balkans). In this millennium, natural increases (the difference between births and deaths) are among the lowest since 1945, and there are more and more new births of non-native roots. This is also why we had to find out the nationality of the respondents during the population census. After all, Slovenia is a country of Slovenes, who have the right to know how many persons of foreign nationality live on Slovenian territory. Demographic strategy and politics also depend on this.
This is also the opinion of human rights law professor Jernej Letnar Černič, who told the magazine Domovina months ago that collecting data on the situation of social groups “is not only desirable, but necessary, as it is only possible to create effective public policies in the field of equal treatment on their basis that”. Unfortunately, the political left rejects this, saying that collecting data on nationality is xenophobic and racist. But on the other hand, we should be aware that refusing to obtain data on the nationality of the population on the territory of Slovenia is a betrayal of one’s own nation, a denial of roots, culture, and tradition, which is very different from the traditions and cultures that immigrate to Slovenia.
Reckless demographic policy
One of the measures of the previous (Janša’s) government was the establishment of a demographic office. It was founded “with the aim of promoting, coordinating and directing the activities of Slovenia’s demographic revival” and “nurturing the Slovenian language, culture and way of life for the survival of the nation”. The left leaning Golob’s government abolished the Demographic Office, mostly rehired its employees (on purpose) to the Office for the Care and Integration of Migrants and returned the demographic policy to a state of recklessness.
The office was otherwise an attempt for Slovenia to correct the demographic picture of its nation, because without an appropriate policy that would control and limit the growing number of foreign citizens and foreigners in Slovenia, the demographic picture of the country will change rapidly. According to some projections, the share of Slovenians compared to foreigners, non-natives, and Slovenian citizens of foreign roots will be less than half by the middle of the century. Without action, the ethnic suicide of Slovenes is inevitable.
Branko Grims: Golob’s government policy is destroying the Slovenian nation
SDS MP Branko Grims repeatedly draws attention to the issue of foreigners, immigration, and the changing demographic composition of Slovenia.
The government proposes lowering the standards for residence permits for foreigners in Slovenia. What could this mean for the country?
The Golob government’s proposal is non-European and anti-Slovenian. In Austria, the minimum knowledge of German for foreigners is A1, then it is increased. Schools have additional support for foreigners only in the first grade. Then you have to master the German language. It is also similar in other countries of the European Union.
The foundation of integration is knowledge of the language of the country you are coming to. For a small nation of two million like Slovenia, this is all the more important. The government’s proposal means deliberately embedding the possibility of conflict into society. Every misunderstanding and conflict will be used by the leftists to make accusations about “nationalism, fascism, Nazism…” and everything else from the leftist’s conceptual cesspool of profanity. In addition to conflicts, Golob’s proposal will also bring enormous costs to the municipalities, as they will have to provide interpreters in schools, offices and elsewhere. That is why the mayors of the affected municipalities are firmly against the government’s proposal, even those who are otherwise from the ranks of the ruling coalition. In order to hide this, they use stupid tricks in the government, such as the fact that the Minister of the Interior publicly met with pro-government “non-government” people, who in reality only represent themselves and are without any wider legitimacy, even if they declare themselves hundreds of times the people, for they are not elected! However, he did not publicly meet with the mayors of the most affected cities, such as Kranj, even though they gained legitimacy in the elections and represent their municipality and all citizens.
The proposed law also goes in the wrong direction. The legislation is misused to obtain the right to unionise on the basis of falsely presented data, then the workers go abroad, and the income is again falsely presented as guaranteed, on the basis of which their family members obtain the maximum social benefits. Therefore, we should strengthen control, and not make laws laxer.
The share of native Slovenians in the country is rapidly decreasing, and leftists want to make Slovenia even more multicultural. Could this mean ethnic suicide?
Leftists do not care about Slovenia. In my opinion, the destructive policy of Robert Golob’s government is not only the result of ignorance and stupidity. I always point out that Golob’s government policy is the deliberate destruction of Slovenia and the Slovenian nation. The goal of the leftists is a big switch: to win new voters through mass immigration of migrants. With insane taxes, Slovenians are encouraged to emigrate abroad.
According to the constitution, Slovenia does not and cannot exist without the Slovenian nation, as the country of Slovenia is founded on the inalienable right to self-determination; but that is of no interest to leftists. Lefties only care about money – your hard earned and saved money! – and power, which again means only… more money for them. They do not care about Slovenia.
Anyone who votes for leftists in Slovenia is voting for the ethnic suicide of the Slovenian nation and thus for the destruction of Slovenia.
Since 2002, the population census of Slovenia no longer covers the nationality of respondents. Do you not think it is harmful that we do not know how many people in our own country define themselves as another nationality?
This is a very serious mistake, and I strongly insist that we officially find out how many of us (still…) there really are. That is why I proposed that everyone could at least voluntarily declare which nation they belong to, which would be entered into the records. I am sure that at least 80 percent of the population would use this option. But even this was not accepted by the previous majority in the parliament, and with the current one, every step in this direction is, of course, only science fiction. The common burden of the actions of Golob’s government and the coalition is: “Everything for foreigners, nothing for Slovenians!”
Note: The article was originally published in the print edition of Demokracija magazine.