Opinion The Slovenian elections and the defeat of Janez Janša are a great victory for liberal democracy
In a surprising turnaround, three-time Prime Minister Janez Janša, leader of the right-wing populist Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), lost the rule of law to the environmentally oriented Freedom Party, which advocated a transition to green energy. and an open society.
Robert Golob, the incoming prime minister, promises a move away from Jansa’s third term, reflecting many aspirations by former President Donald Trump and other potential powers trying to take authoritarian control of functioning democracies by attacking media critical of their leadership. .
The result represents a significant shift.
Just last week, Washington’s Freedom House think tank released its annual “Nations in transit”A report monitoring civil society health and democratic norms in 29 Central and Central Asian countries. According to her metrics, no country has seen a stronger decline in its democracy than Slovenia.
The report states that the Janša government “pushed away from parliament and exerted considerable political and financial pressure on civil society organizations, public media services, the judiciary and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.” She added: “Janša’s militant political style partly deters citizens from alleged bribes in SDS circles, but also betrays illiberal intolerance of any criticism.”
Now that Hungary and Poland are slipping deeper into the authoritarian abyss, tiny Slovenia is giving reason for hope.
You don’t know much about Slovenia? That can be forgiven. With a population of just over 2 million, it is one of the smallest countries in the European Union, but with a proud history. It was the first republic to claim sovereignty from communist Yugoslavia in 1991. It borders Croatia, Hungary, Austria and Italy, is lush and mountainous and has a short but spectacular coastline on the Adriatic Sea.
It is very common for Slovenes to speak several languages in addition to their mother tongue, including Italian, English, German and Serbo-Croatian. Many older generations also speak Russian, although Yugoslavia was not part of the Soviet Union.
All of this is relevant now, as Sunday’s election as a country going on its own drum could take place very differently.
I know some of this from my own experience with the state. My maternal grandmother’s family immigrated from Slovenia to the United States in 1910, but – and later my mother and I – they maintained close ties with friends and relatives there. I have been traveling to Slovenia regularly for a quarter of a century. On my first visit in the mid-1990s – before being a member of the European Union and more than a decade before adopting the euro as its currency – I met a young country that was hungry for integration and economic growth but struggling to survive independence.
On the following trips I saw how Slovenia was transformed. Ljubljana, the capital, has moved from a gloomy and openly gloomy city, which was not easily accessible, to a place I would like to visit. The district is now one of Europe’s hottest destinations, known for its incredible natural splendor, exciting culinary scene and a light-hearted population eager to receive visitors.
Because of all of this, what I experienced on my last visit in 2019 was pretty confusing. For the first time in all my visits, I came across nativist views mixed with misinformation and conspiracy theories, that weird hybrid I’ve heard about often but rarely seen up close. Whether it was accidental references to unfounded but often recurring anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish supremacy in the world economy or strong support for Trump’s border wall, I came across views that were contrary to the Slovene spirit I had realized. years.
These interactions did not make up most of my meetings, but they were enough to raise questions in my mind about what was going on in a country that seemed to be moving in the right direction.
Janša’s rise and the perception that he is close to another term of office worried me that the best days of Slovenia are behind this – that it will also succumb to the dark cloud of authoritarianism. But it surprised me again.
Macron’s victory in France may have restored our faith in the future of a free world at a time when we desperately need it. But believe me when I say: Slovenia is something to observe. This is even more true now that she has voted against the tide of illiberalism. If you care about other fragile democracies, it is worth taking a close look at Slovenia – and even visiting it to experience and support it for yourself.