MEPs blame Slovenian government for attacks on media Slovenia
The European Parliament has accused the Slovenian government of “attacks, slander and defamation” on journalists and critics, with a vote highlighting growing concerns about threats to media freedom.
MEPs supported the resolution, which condemns the Slovenian government for its “climate of hostility, mistrust and deep polarization” and seeks to weaken independent prosecutors and interfere with state-funded media.
The resolution did not name Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, but it is clearly directed against a right-wing nationalist politician who called journalists liars and “prostitutes”, attacked investigative journalists and promoted conspiracy theories.
The resolution is not binding, but in the last weeks of the six months of the rotating EU presidency, it has been illuminating Slovenia in an unpleasant way.
The text was mostly voted for by MEPs from the center-right European People’s Party, which considers Janša a member, but some abstained.
The resolution was passed with 356 votes in favor, 284 against and 40 abstentions, securing the support of the center-left, liberal, radical left and green groups. The amendment, drafted by a Belgian nationalist MEP congratulating Slovenia on its “successful” presidency of the EU Council and noting that its institutions are working well, did not receive support.
The state investigation was triggered by Slovenia’s delay in appointing prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, a new body tasked with investigating fraud against the EU budget. Two people were appointed in November, but the government has since declared them temporary and has sought to change the rules on the appointment of prosecutors, meaning they could be fired.
Slovenia’s rules on the Covid state of emergency were also under scrutiny, and MEPs expressed concern about “continuing the practice of governing by decree” without parliamentary oversight.
Following government pressure on the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), freedom of the press was one of the strongest concerns. The Janša government withheld a statutory state subsidy for most of 2021, leading the agency to bankruptcy. Most of the money has been paid since then, but according to the European Parliament, at least 507,000 euros are still outstanding.
Similarly, MEPs called on the Slovenian government to provide “sufficient financial resources” and “end all political interference and pressure” on the public television network RTV Slovenia.
Following the example of Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary, Janša sought to curb the independence of publicly funded media. He called the Slovenian news agency a national disgrace and tried to remove the director general. On Twitter, he accused the journalist of RTV Slovenia of lying when they compared health care expenditures with military spending.
The European Parliament also accuses unnamed Slovenian public figures and members of the government of defamation, defamation of critics and the use of lawsuits to suppress journalism in the public interest.
Slovenia ranks 36th in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders, which is four places lower than the 2020 ranking. according to her, it got worse when Janša became prime minister in March 2020.
Jansa, who was at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, has not yet responded to the vote. When MEPs visited Ljubljana in October on a fact-finding mission, Jansa described some as “Soros Dolls”, in a tweet referring to Hungarian philanthropist George Soros, which matches anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
The image embedded in the tweet, later deleted, is said to have originated from a radical hate blog and represented several prominent Dutch MEPs, including Sophie in ‘t Veld, who led Parliament’s fact-finding mission. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the tweet “most strongly”, and the Slovenian ambassador was called to the same message.
Jansa responded by calling on Rutte and In ‘t Veld to “protect their journalists from being killed in the streets”, apparently referring to crime reporter Peter de Vries, who was fatally shot in central Amsterdam in July.