By: Sara Kovač / Nova24tv
In the last two years, our government has also put into practice the sentence that “Slovenia is not just Ljubljana” and that it is necessary to measure the needs of people with the same watts, regardless of where they live.
The president of the Slovenian Democratic Party, Janez Janša, was a guest on Radio Zeleni val on Saturday, April 9th. He was accompanied by the mayor of Grosuplje Dr Peter Verlič and the mayor of Ivančna Gorica Dušan Strnad. The president of the SDS is running in this year’s parliamentary elections in the constituencies of the mentioned municipalities.
The president of the SDS spent his childhood and youth in Grosuplje and attended high school in Ivančna Gorica. When asked how he sees these places today, Janez Janša answered that from the point of view of development, both places are completely different today: “It really shows that there is investment in development, in improving the quality of life, especially in the last ten years. Compared to other municipalities in Slovenia, you can see a very fast development. Both mayors manage very well and make positive use of a good geostrategic location, and above all the diligent hands of the people who live here.”
In the last two years, the current government has also put into practice the sentence that “Slovenia is not just Ljubljana” and that it is necessary to measure the needs of people with the same watts, regardless of where they live. “And if you look today at a map of projects that have either been completed, are in progress or are part of development programmes, that is, the funds are already provided from the state budget and European funds, then you see that things are moving across the country, also in Grosuplje and Ivančna Gorica,” the SDS president emphasised, pointing out the House of the Carniolan Bee, which is also extremely interesting abroad and which his colleagues abroad also ask about.
According to Janez Janša, the most important thing for the quality of life of our people is to listen to their needs at the state level, from which common funds are allocated: “It is very important that municipalities are seen as part of the solution and not part of the problem, which we have witnessed in the past, when municipalities were deprived of money that is theirs, their average money municipalities get per capita, and when projects were directed only to centres. Now this policy is different, in two years it has become clear that much more can be done in this way, and we are working to continue these trends.”
Asked how he assesses the political situation at the end of his term, the Prime Minister said that we are constantly trying to show the difference between the results and threshing over old straw, and it is up to the voters to judge for themselves: “I believe people see this difference and that they will be able to peel the chaff from the grain in the elections.”
What is the vision for Slovenia?
Regarding the vision for Slovenia, Janez Janša replied that his vision is Slovenia, where no matter where you are born, you have the same basic opportunities for success in life. “Then it depends on your efforts, work, abilities, sacrifices, if you want, what you will achieve. But the same starting points need to be provided by the state as well as local communities. The key thing here is the education system. The sovereignty of man is in knowledge. A young person must be enabled to acquire as much knowledge as he is capable of, and the state must take care of that. So, a school system that also needs to be competitive within itself. Then it is necessary to give the economy as much oxygen as possible to create well-paid jobs, so that you can enrich this knowledge, put it in the service of your own interests and self-interest, to create all the conditions for life and family, as well as to contribute to the community,” he said.
The mayors of Grosuplje and Ivančna Gorica also joined the conversation. “The results speak for themselves. This is written in all advertising spots of the Slovenian Democratic Party, and I can only confirm this. Our budget is a record this year, 30 million euros, at the expense of higher averages municipalities receive per capita and, of course, all those investments from the state and European budgets, in a way that does not require borrowing. Then there are all the projects we see growing. I summed it up quickly. 30 million euros are now being financed,” said Dr Peter Verlič.
“Apart from being the mayor, I am also the representative of local communities in the National Council. And if anyone, then I can argue that the attitude of this government towards local communities compared to previous governments is like night and day. If once we mayors were happy to see a minister from afar, let alone the Prime Minister, by the way, the former did not dare to join the National Council, now we can directly address both ministers and the Prime Minister with our problems and things are resolved faster. If I only mention that before the government of Janez Janša started its term, all Slovenian mayors met with those who took over the government and asked them what their attitude would be towards local communities, we got a clear answer. You are our partners and not our opponents and we will make sure that Slovenia develops evenly. And it was not just words that remained, this was achieved with higher averages received per capita and easier access to European funds, as well as with projects across the country. Our municipality also receives them,” said Dušan Strnad regarding Ivančna Gorica.
Asked what he would like to wish the voters before the upcoming parliamentary elections, the SDS president said to judge the work: “Let them look critically at what we have done in the last two years and decide on that basis. As well as to decide on this basis when the local elections will take place in the fall. I am convinced that if we move on to Grosuplje and Ivančna Gorica in the same combination after the parliamentary and local elections, then in four years the quality of life in both municipalities will be significantly higher than it is today.”