By: Gašper Blažič
The godfathers operating from the shadows, who shape political developments, have found themselves “out in the open.” Recently, they have been publicly called out primarily by Vladimir Prebilič and Borut Pahor, though each in his own way. Yet it was only Pahor who faced a backlash. So, what exactly is going on?
On the day Prime Minister Robert Golob “ceremoniously” marked the third anniversary of his government’s election – and when the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (CPC) announced it would investigate the Prime Minister over the Subotič-Karigador affair – Žurnal24 published an interview with MEP Vladimir Prebilič, the former mayor of Kočevje. In the interview, Prebilič hinted that the “godfathers from the shadows” have not yet given up on the current Prime Minister, since politics, according to Prebilič, is “a matter of realistic possibilities.” Prebilič did not want to say whether he would be willing to give up his well-paid position as an MEP, but he did admit to having met with Milan Kučan, whom he described as “incredibly perceptive.” Still, there is “no definitive ‘yes’ yet.” Prebilič, who likes to present himself as non-partisan (despite the fact that, for example, in 2008 he was an advisor on defence matters to then-Social Democrat Prime Minister Borut Pahor – although he never became Minister of Defence, despite teaching the subject at the Faculty of Social Sciences), said between the lines more than his patrons might have wanted – perhaps even that he would accept a role in Slovenian politics for less pay than he currently earns in Brussels. And that can only be done by someone who is being held in check – for some reason.
The old networks should not be underestimated, the “last battle of Kučan’s generation” is still ongoing.
What Pahor actually said
A few days after the Prebilič interview, former President of the Republic Borut Pahor gave a televised interview, in which he essentially repeated old theses. Commenting on the idea that one of the problems of the centre-left is that those in power are not really the ones governing, Pahor said: “That was also my problem. I realised it, of course, only after becoming Prime Minister, that I was not actually the one making the decisions. I cannot say not at all, I certainly decided some things, but overall, the power over the entire centre-left bloc was outside our parties, and still is today.” However, these centres of power are themselves experiencing a decline.
“If you look at one of the parties, for example, you will notice that one of the leading parties actually surprised many with the loyalty of its MPs. Usually, the centres of power, when they believed it was necessary to break up a centre-left government and replace it with another centre-left government, would orchestrate a split within the parliamentary group.” In response to interviewer Jože Možina’s question about the so-called godfathers from the background, who they are and what they do, Borut Pahor explained that part of this power is linked to the transition from the previous regime to the current system, and that for some, this change evoked fear. “That fear was capitalised on by a faction of people who wanted to preserve their power, and they still maintain it today by playing on that fear and concern. If you listen to the rhetoric of the centre-left today, you will see that their main slogan is essentially: ‘The important thing is that we are here, so that Janez Janša is not.’” Regarding the centres of power, Pahor noted that beyond political and economic influence, they also had control over intelligence services, or what remained of them. They had international connections, media, and money. “Over time, people began to realise that these centres of power could wield tools that institutions could not, and so they began turning to the godfathers instead of to institutions. Over the past thirty years, this has led to a situation where our institutions are weak, and the centres of power are strong.” And that, says Pahor, is the reason why Slovenia is falling behind the countries it once outpaced in the 1990s.
The dogma of genocide
In any case, with this, Pahor elaborated on what some other politicians, including the late Janez Drnovšek, had already acknowledged in the past. This part of the interview was in fact the real reason why the propaganda machine of the transitional left switched on and essentially chewed Pahor up and spat him out. As an excuse, they used another part of the interview, in which he hinted that he does not fully share the opinion that what is happening in Gaza is unequivocally genocide, saying that an international court should first make such a determination. By saying this, Pahor expressed serious doubt about the dogma of genocide, which has become the central public narrative of the transitional left at this time (more on that later), and that alone was enough to spark the backlash. We will not list all the harsh responses here, even from top politicians (such as Asta Vrečko and Urška Klakočar Zupančič) or “non-governmental” activists (like Nika Kovač). However, it is worth noting that within the Social Democrats (SD), there are now open calls for Pahor’s expulsion from the party. Can you imagine? A man who led the party for 15 years and even brought it to victory in 2008 (albeit with the help of the Patria affair), and later “froze” his party membership due to being elected president, is now supposed to be expelled. This is reminiscent of something Stane Dolanc said in Split in 1972, after delivering his most famous line: that the communists would always remain in power. He suggested that rebels should not even be allowed to voluntarily leave the Communist League but must be publicly expelled. Simple as that.
According to Borut Pahor, the problem of the centre-left is that those who govern do not rule.
How influential is Kučan still?
Many people continue to wonder whether Milan Kučan still holds dominant influence over Slovenian politics, or whether other godfathers, such as Zoran Janković, who, along with Vesna Vuković, is believed to have significant sway over the Prime Minister, have now overtaken him. Among the godfathers there are quite a few former politicians and influential financiers who compete with one another, for example, Gregor Golobič, Anton Rop, Borut Jamnik, Danilo Türk, not to mention media magnates like Stojan Petrič and Martin Odlazek. Kučan and Türk are said to have influence over President Nataša Pirc Musar (and through her, also over her advisor, former Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar), while they maintain a conditional truce with Robert Golob through Janković. Perhaps this is why Golob has recently appeared more self-confident and convinced that there will be no early elections. Kučan’s influence has somewhat diminished in recent years, since he no longer has the old operatives around him, such as Niko Kavčič, Janez Zemljarič, and Janez Kocijančič. In 2004, for instance, he founded Forum 21, thereby legalising his “clan,” but less than twenty years later he also dissolved it. Still, the answer to how exactly Kučan’s circle has aligned with Golob might lie in the appointment of Mojca Seliškar Toš as Golob’s new advisor. A former close associate of Danilo Türk, she is now said to be coordinating the government’s policy direction regarding Slovenia’s relations with Palestine. She had already been independently organising the treatment of Palestinian children in Slovenia. Side note: Her late husband, Peter Toš, was a staff member in Kučan’s presidential office; from 1999 to 2004 he served as Slovenia’s ambassador to Israel, before that as consul in Cleveland, and prior to 1991 he was a member of the Executive Council of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, during Dušan Šinigoj’s tenure as president of the executive council.
Arabs and leftists want the role of a victim
But let’s turn to the Palestinian question. As is well known, Slovenia officially recognised Palestine last year, and Golob, on the occasion of the first anniversary of this act, particularly boasted of this achievement to the public and even called on other countries to recognise Palestine as soon as possible. Well, the German foreign minister quickly gave him a rejection, although on the other hand, he naively emphasised the commitment to continue sending aid to Gaza. But to whom? It has turned out that the residents of Gaza have so far received practically nothing, because Hamas sold to them, for a high price, what they should have received for free, money that Hamas, along with donations from the West, used to buy weapons with which it provoked the Israelis. The Israeli retaliatory rockets then struck only civilians, who could not hide because the terrorists did not allow them to. Regardless of this, the Slovenian government has recently even considered joining South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel and cutting diplomatic ties with Israel. These demands come from pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied Prešeren Square in Ljubljana on Thursday, June 5th, and even lay down on the ground as a demonstration. Interestingly, these protesters, who clearly have their godfathers inside the coalition (which is otherwise in disarray), demand access for Gaza’s residents to humanitarian aid from the United Nations, but that institution never actually comes into direct contact with Gaza’s residents. The reason is known: because it functions as an instrument serving the global left and the Arab lobby, which continuously plays the victim role (mimicry).
The Palestinisation of Slovenia is a project that the old centres of power are trying to implement through the current coalition parties as a new agenda for public opinion control ahead of upcoming elections.
Kučan wants the Palestinisation of Slovenia
This is exactly what the transitional left apparently wants – to transfer the Middle Eastern conflict into Slovenian conditions and, based on the dogma of genocide, declare the opposition inhuman and “butcher-like,” which means nothing less than declaring a “license to kill” those who allegedly support genocide. By the way, last September, among the pro-Palestinian protesters with symbolically bloodied hands was Ana Kučan, daughter of Milan Kučan. This also says something about how the head of the para-state directs the political climate in our country. The “Palestinisation” of Slovenia is therefore Kučan’s project. And it is very dangerous for our future. Apparently, Vladimir Prebilič is also part of this, waiting for Kučan’s green light in case Golob fails.
(This article was originally published in the weekly Demokracija, June 12th, 2025.)