By: Gašper Blažič
In recent days, the dominant media have been extensively reporting on the African tour of Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar. While this is rather bizarre, it is in line with the current foreign policy priorities of Slovenia under Golob’s administration. The latter swears by the “Non-Aligned Movement” and “core Africa,” while Prime Minister Robert Golob is busy ambushing Donald Trump “near the restroom,” as happened late last year during the opening of the renovated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Be that as it may, it is clear that President Nataša Pirc Musar is using her African tour to cleanse her rather tarnished public image and to try to win back the favour of Slovenian Christians – among other things, through her visit to missionary Pedro Opeka in Madagascar. She visited him yesterday. There, she inaugurated a new elementary school in the capital, Antananarivo, which was built with support from Slovenian donors. At the opening, the President thanked Pedro Opeka, who assisted in the school’s construction, for his dedication to working for the community. Pirc Musar also emphasised that supporting the Akamasoa community, led by Opeka, represents an important example of a holistic and sustainable approach to improving living conditions in partner countries. Symbolically, she also handed over material aid gathered during the humanitarian campaign “Slovenia for Madagascar,” which was dispatched in March from the port of Koper.
There is, of course, little direct reporting about the event in Madagascar, since the coverage for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) is mainly provided by the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, headed by Tanja Fajon. However, Radio Ognjišče also reported on the event, but from a different perspective. According to the radio station, Pedro Opeka celebrated Mass at the school’s opening, joined by three other Slovenian missionaries working in Madagascar: Janez Mesec, Janez Krmelj, and Stane Kerin. From Slovenia, the event was attended by Janko J. Pirc, secretary of the Missionary Centre of Slovenia, and Jana Lampe from Slovenian Caritas. The Mass was attended by more than 8,000 people. More on this HERE.
President Pirc Musar’s visit was, of course, mentioned only in passing. While it is formally commendable for a high-ranking Slovenian political representative to attend such an event, Pirc Musar has an issue. As previously reported, a state commemoration was held on May 29th at the mass grave site Pod Macesnovo gorico in Kočevski Rog, which she attended. But the main commemorative event is traditionally held on the first Saturday in June – this year, June 7th. However, Pirc Musar will have “other commitments” on that day: she is scheduled to appear near the former Nazi concentration camp under Mt. Ljubelj. She will return to Slovenia today, after her visit to Ethiopia. There is no doubt that the rushed commemoration, where her gesture was overshadowed by the direct speech and moral reckoning delivered by Andrej Saje, president of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference and Bishop of Novo Mesto, was intended to symbolically ‘wash her hands’ of the matter – an attempt to say, ‘I paid tribute to the victims of communism on the 80th anniversary of the postwar massacres.’
But that is not the whole story. Pedro Opeka, whom she met yesterday, is the son of a Slovenian refugee who narrowly escaped death in 1945 – his father was being driven to an execution site near Hrastnik by partisans. At the time, he was 32-year-old Lojze Opeka from Begunje near Cerknica. He managed to avoid the execution and fled to Italy, where he met his future wife in a refugee camp. They married in Loreto and emigrated to Argentina in early 1948, where their son Peter (Spanish: Pedro) was born – now a missionary in Madagascar.
This leaves many wondering whether Pirc Musar’s state visit to Madagascar was genuinely sincere – or merely a PR manoeuvre to salvage her public image.
Let us also recall a similar episode 13 years ago, when then-President Danilo Türk, in pursuit of votes for a second term (which he ultimately lost to Borut Pahor), began attending religious events, including a national scout gathering. At the time, our outlet raised concerns that the leadership of the national scout organisation should be more careful about potential political exploitation of such events. This led to a wave of angry reactions – not so much from leftists, but from some believers and even members of the clergy.