STA, 13 July 2019 - The Left (Levica), an opposition party that supports Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's minority government, has threatened to withhold its support for the crucial 2020-2021 budget bills in autumn unless the government implements the agreement is signed with the Left and "gives up rightist policies".

This was the conclusion of a meeting of the party's governing council on Saturday, convened due to mounting dissatisfaction with with the government's performance.

"The Left will not support a right government. But it's not just a Janez Janša government that's right, actions are what determines a government's character," party leader Luka Mesec said, lamenting the current government's "strong neoliberal and authoritarian tendencies".

The Left wanted to implement before the summer at least four of the projects enshrined in a pact that it signed with the government in exchange for votes in parliament, but that did not pan out: it claims only one of 13 agreed projects had been realised.

The party's biggest concern is a healthcare act that would effectively prevent privatisation in the sector, higher minimum wage for student work, and transfer of land from the bad bank to the National Housing Fund as a way to boost the construction of social housing.

Mesec said the party had decided to support the government because it expected agreements would be honoured and that its priorities would be realised.

It also thought that "after years of neoliberal governments Slovenia will finally get a centre-left government that would not save money on the poor, that would tackle fundamental developmental and social issues, and have an environmental programme."

"These goals have not been accomplished," according to Mesec.

Šarec has repeatedly dismissed the claim that the agreed projects were not being realised and there are indications he will make the budget vote in autumn a vote of confidence in the government.

Left votes have been indispensable for the government, most recently in the passage of a controversial act on the financing of primary schools that would have collapsed were it not for backing from the Left.

The party has threatened to withhold its support several times before, but it never carried out its threat.

STA, 18 June 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has become a victim of identify theft. A person posing as him has set up a false profile on Facebook's messaging app Messenger and started chatting with people.

Šarec told his Facebook followers Tuesday morning that a person had hijacked his identity to communicate via Messenger using Facebook's option of creating a Messenger profile without having a Facebook account.

"I do not use this kind of communication. If you've received such a message, ignore it, it's a fake profile," said Šarec, who had been alerted to the fake account by Facebook users.

The attached screenshot reveals whoever created the Messenger account used Šarec's Facebook profile picture and his full name.

Šarec often posts updates about his work on Facebook and has around 32,000 followers on the social network.

EU must resist populism

STA, 24 April 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec warned of the danger of populism in an interview with the Associated Press, arguing that the EU needed more efficient leadership to successfully counter the populist surge.

Mainstream officials and parties have failed to deter right-wing groups, and populists are advancing in Europe because moderate parties have not been successful with their agenda, he said in an interview released on Tuesday.

Šarec cited prolonged Brexit talks as an example of the EU's slow decision-making, even though he said that delaying Britain's departure from the bloc was nevertheless positive.

"Brexit is quite good example how things are done in European Union, endless debates, then the date of exit is coming, then we are faced with it and we prolong again," he said.

"We need another leadership ... we need such leaders that will be proactive that will be more capable of fast decisions."

Turning to the upcoming elections to the European Parliament, Šarec also warned that elections are "always unpredictable," even though projections indicate mainstream parties will retain the majority.

"You can never know what will occur on the elections and that's the main problem that we have now," he said.

He compared the current situation in Europe with the late 1930s and the actions of the British prime minister at the time, Nevil Chamberlain, who he said believed Hitler when he sought to negotiate rather than confront him.

Still, he said, "there is always a chance and we must act in that way."

Slovenia needs a proactive, balanced foreign policy

STA, 24 April 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec made the case for a proactive and balanced foreign policy as he addressed Slovenian diplomats gathered for their annual consultation on Wednesday.

"Some events in the world and in our immediate neighbourhood which raise doubt about the universally established principles of international relations, international law and European values affirm my conviction that such conduct must be resisted with a proactive European and foreign policy," he said.

For small countries with restricted resources, being principled and consistent, and having clear priorities, is crucial. "Slovenian diplomacy has all that."

Highlighting Slovenia's "continued commitment to a strong and effective EU and a firm transatlantic alliance," Šarec said it needed to remain in the most integrated group of EU countries and join forces with like-minded countries in strengthening the bloc's foundations. This will also be the guiding line of Slovenia's EU presidency in the second half of 2021.

A functioning EU is in Slovenia's interest, which requires addressing shortcomings and casting aside bad practices. "Member states must be treated equally and European institutions and their representatives must work in the interest of all member states and in accordance with European values."

Turning to the upcoming EU elections, Šarec was hopeful that "integrative and forward-looking European forces will prevail." He also has high hopes about the performance of EU institutions after the vote since "their conduct will largely determine the future development of the EU."

Šarec also highlighted Western Balkans as a region of strategic importance and said Slovenia wanted to shortly see North Macedonia and Albania making progress towards the EU.

Implementation of the border arbitration agreement with Croatia would also be an important message to the region, he said, reiterating the long-standing position that Croatia's refusal to implement the deal is "unacceptable and raises concern about the state of the rule of law."

Despite challenges, Šarec wants a strengthening of relations with all neighbours in areas of shared interest. But it is also important that Slovenia expand its circle of partners and strengthen bilateral ties with other countries with shared interests.

"It is important that we are responsive to the developments in the international community and to constantly seek alliances and opportunities," he said.

Šarec also highlighted the need to pursue a balanced foreign policy, play an active role in international institutions, and actively participate in the preservation of international peace and security, including by investing in the defence and security system.

The prime minister also urged economic officers working at diplomatic missions to leverage economic diplomacy to help Slovenian companies penetrate foreign markets and promote Slovenia as a location for foreign direct investment.

STA, 16 April 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec called for a European Commission that would consistently implement the rule of law and respect small member states as he gave an interview for Politico. His vote for the next European Commission chief will go to Margrethe Vestager (ALDE).

In the interview, Šarec took issue with the Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for implying that small EU members did not have the same status as large countries such as France, and for not taking sides in the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia.

Šarec suggested that the soft-handed approach could have been politically motivated since Juncker and the ruling Croatian party belonged to the same European Parliament group, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

He said that the Commission should have urged Croatia to respect the border decision, which was handed down in Slovenia's favour by an international arbitration panel in 2017, adding that the decision was valid no matter the surrounding controversy.

"We need a European Commission which will obey the rule of law ... we need a Commission which will be less political," said Šarec, pointing out that Vestager, his choice for the next Commission chief, had a "common sense" vision for the EU.

Hailing from Denmark, Vestager also has more understanding for small member states, according to Šarec. Both of them belong to the ALDE alliance of European liberal parties, with the competition commissioner being considered the party's top candidate for the Commission presidency.

He also called for an EU which would be faster at making decisions and expressed his disapproval of the Spitzenkandidat process, describing it as "not legal" and "not democratic".

Commenting on European Parliament President Antonio Tajani's recent controversial remarks, which implied Italy's territorial claims on parts of Slovenia and Croatia, Šarec called them an outrageous example of WWII revisionism and declared Tajani unfit for his office.

He urged taking measures that the next European Parliament president would not be someone who advocated such problematic statements and views.

Politico also addressed Šarec's stand-up past, pointing out that a number of former comedians have started performing in the EU political arena in recent years.

The Slovenian prime minister welcomed this trend, saying that some characteristics were useful in both worlds, including being observant, brave and a quick learner, as well as a performer skilled at reading people.

STA, 8 March 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told the weekly Mladina that UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had raised the issue of a UK company's gas extraction project in the north-east of Slovenia during their talks in Ljubljana at the end of February. Šarec said he found the manner of inquiry unusual.

The fracking attempts in the Petišovci area were stopped by former Environment Minister Jure Leben after UK company Ascent Resources had been pressuring the country to issue an environmental permit and even threatening with a lawsuit before an EU court.

Several environmental NGOs and parties had also accused UK Ambassador Sophie Honey of lobbying and putting pressure on Slovenian authorities to secure the permit for fracking.

Šarec said in an interview with Mladina that the case had come up in the talks with Hunt in Ljubljana on 21 February.

Asked whether Hunt had lobbied during the talks, Šarec replied in the affirmative. "Yes, his questions regarding this case were, I must say, unusual.

"I believe that such talks do not become a foreign secretary, because it makes the whole thing resemble horse-trading."

Šarec said he had told Hunt that "in Slovenia we operate in line with the law."

"I'd like to point out that the permit for fracking is not a matter of a favourable political stance toward this or other party but a matter of legislation.

"I am also personally convinced that these procedures for extracting oil or gas undoubtedly entail certain environmental risks."

Šarec also noted that lobbying was usually reported to the Commission for Corruption Prevention but it this case this was not necessary, because he had publicly spoken about it now.

All our stories about fracking in Slovenia can be found here, while all our stories about Jeremy Hunt are here

Mladina: Šarec's popularity result of well-placed ideology

STASTA, 22 February 2019 - The weekly Mladina says in its latest editorial that the growing popularity of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, his party and the government is a success of an ideology which avoids declaring the state of emergency and portraying leaders as messiahs.

The high popularity "deserves a serious analysis: what we can see is not popularity, not someone being sympathetic, but a success of an ideology of a certain authority, which is fitting very well with the state of society."

In order to understand what is going on, one needs to use political and ideological glasses, not marketing or some other glasses used by the media. "It is about politics and ideology," editor-in-chief Grega Repovž adds in Victory of an Ideology.

He notes that Šarec has, probably not deliberately, abandoned certain concepts which had marked the work of governments for a long time, including in particular portraying the situation as catastrophic while at the same time playing messiahs.

"Up to and including the government of Miro Cerar (2014-2018), all governments were building their image on attempts to normalise allegedly horrific situations which they had inherited, to prevent the worst from happening, to save us, the country and the world, to be our saviours."

This concept is always comfortable and comes in handy, but people actually do not like to live in an abnormal state, as this causes stress and anxiety. What is more, they feel it as a threat, an actual political mobbing of the nation, Repovž writes.

He argues that the Šarec government has not significantly changed the ideological framework of operation, it is still a slightly leftist government, but predominantly neo-liberal. The essential difference is that it does not harass the citizens and create a state of emergency.

"What people feel and how they respond is the ideological framework of that government. Only when one acknowledges this enables the understanding of the political changes we are witnessing. This is why the first catastrophist in the country is losing support," Repovž says in reference to Democrat (SDS) president Janez Janša.

Demokracija: Macron & Merkel Threaten EU

STA, 21 February 2019 - The right-wing magazine Demokracija claims in the latest issue that the only real danger to Europe at the moment is the "multi-cultural axis Berlin-Paris", arguing that the only way for the EU to survive is as a formation of nation states whose sole interest is to create prosperity based on economic cooperation.

Writing under the headline Sixth Reich, editor-in-chief Jože Biščak dismisses the controversy provoked by Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, in his Foibe Victims Remembrance Day address, asserting that no one in the EU truly cares about what he said.

Instead, Biščak is more concerned about German Chancellor Angela Merkel's stating that "Nation states must today be prepared to give up their sovereignty".

He says that few expressed indignation or protest at her statement and that "no one warned that they will not push their nation into dependence from a new, so far still imaginary sixth reich ... which would give rise to new Europeans, a mix of natives, camel shepherds and Negroids."

Biščak launches an attack on the Brussels bureaucracy, European Council President Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he says the nationally minded French consider to be a German vassal.

"Macron is a man who, without asking anyone, put Germany in a position to lead the EU. And the European army. This means that he will hand over to it nuclear arms that only France and the UK among EU countries posses."

Biščak says that the obstacle to these plans is Brexit, arguing that the UK saw through it on time and decided to leave the EU. He says that it will be no disaster for Britain regardless of whether it will be a hard or soft Brexit.

"They can merely encourage to leave the countries which are resisting the senseless EU bureaucracy even now. These are Italy, Hungary and Poland, the targets of the strongest desire for control.

"Only a thorough change of priorities and a rethink about the future can save the EU. It can only be a formation of free nation states whose sole interest is to create prosperity based on economic cooperation."

All our posts in this series can be found here

STA, 19 February 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and his Finnish host Juha Sipilä agreed in Helsinki on Tuesday that the two countries shared a number of interests and views as regards the future of the EU. They focused on topical EU issues and Finland's upcoming presidency over the bloc.

Highlighted as an example of shared interests was the recent letter for higher EU rural development funding after 2021, initiated by Slovenia and singed by the agriculture ministers of 15 member states. Finland was one of the main supporters of the initiative.

Meanwhile, Šarec listed the deepening of the common market, the circular and digital economy, stronger foreign trade and climate change among the key challenges of the EU.

He argued that the common market still needed to get rid of remaining limitations to the free flow of persons, goods and services, the government said in a press release.

The pair also talked about EU presidency preparations, with both countries being small members and thus benefiting from the exchange of experience. Finland's six-month stint is due later this year and Slovenia's in the second half of 2021.

Brexit and the EU's 2021-2027 financial perspective were given ample attention as well, with Šarec and Sipilä calling for closer cooperation between the two countries, not only in EU affairs but also in the economy, culture and other fields.

As part of the working visit, Šarec also met the leadership of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Slovenia plans to step up activities this year to join the centre, which currently has 20 EU and NATO members cooperating in efforts against hybrid threats, the government announced.

Šarec also attended a working dinner featuring his counterparts from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and the Netherlands. All of them members of ALDE, they exchanged views on EU affairs ahead of the 9 May informal summit in Sibiu, Romania.

They issued a joint statement after the meeting in which they reiterated their call for a strong Europe that will be an engine of growth, create jobs, security and prosperity for all.

They also called for a Europe that will promote the rule of law and act as a global leader in the fight against climate change.

Moreover, the statement highlights the importance of the upcoming European elections and warns against the negative consequences of populism.

STA, 16 February 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has criticised the conduct of senior Italian politicians in the aftermath of controversial statements made by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini last week, saying that historical revisionism was "completely misguided".

"This is reminiscent of Marshal [Pietro] Badoglio, who took over the government after Mussolini and succeeded in Italy hardly being recognised as a country in which Fascism was in power. Germany has gone through profound denazification, Italy has not had such a process," Šarec told Večer in an interview published on Saturday.

"As a Slovenian, I'm sensitive to falsification of history and in such cases things have to be said clearly. The Slovenian nation has never attacked anybody, it never had territorial designs, on the contrary, we lost a lot, which is why depictions of Slovenians as occupying forces need to be forcefully resisted," he said.

Šarec was among the first Slovenian officials to respond after Tajani and Salvini addressed a ceremony in Basovizza, Italy on Sunday marking the day of remembrance for Italian victims of post WWII-executions. He called the statements "unparalleled revisionism" and said Fascism's goal had been to destroy the Slovenian nation.

While Salvini has expressed surprise at Šarec's comments and reactions in Slovenia overall, Tajani issued several apologies, after his first comments were interpreted as a textbook example of a non-apology.

Šarec told the newspaper what Tajani had initially said was "not an apology. It sounded as if you called someone a complete idiot, they demand an apology, and you say: 'Sorry, you really aren't a complete idiot.' This is just saying the same thing differently."

In Slovenia disputes over postwar history are not rare and Šarec has faced his share of criticism for several speeches he has delivered at ceremonies commemorating the victims of WWII, but he says that he is "not the one bringing up history".

"I don't raise such issues, nor does the Marjan Šarec List, other politicians do it. But I will never not react to statements that do not belong in the 21st century. Polarisation is not good, we should learn from history by acknowledging what was wrong and celebrating what was good."

Slovenia not turning foreign policy towards the US

Asked whether Slovenia's support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido "is a turn of Slovenian foreign policy towards the US", Šarec said it was not.

"It's not a turn in foreign policy. We always try to have good relations with all. We also don't have very close relations or too many visits with Russia."

He added he did not consider the support for Guaido as turning in the US direction "because we are Europeans".

"The whole EU has problems with the US policy of President Donald Trump," Šarec said, noting "twitter diplomacy does not suit us". As a small country, Slovenia must also pay attention to its own interests, he told the Maribor-based newspaper.

STA, 4 February 2019 - Calls for structural reforms, in particular lower taxes and a more flexible market, were in the centre of a Slovenian Business Club (SBC)-sponsored meeting in Postojna, which featured some of Slovenia's top business and state officials. Prime Minister Marjan Šarec promised changes, while also noting the importance of preserving the welfare state.

Šarec told the meeting, which brought together around 300 successful entrepreneurs and several cabinet members, that the government would draft a package of measures before the end of the year, "measures that you've perhaps been wishing to see for a while".

He expects the measures will again cause a storm in the public, but "there is no action without a reaction".

Šarec, however, went on to stress that the welfare state was also needed, "since things that it provides for everybody - such as education, healthcare and other services - are not unimportant".

Šarec, who acknowledged the economy was slowing down but argued it was too early to speak of a crisis, rejected comparisons with Switzerland, which is being looked to at the meeting for inspiration on how to increase added value.

"If we continue to wonder how to become another Switzerland or somebody else, we'll probably fail to meet the desired goals and results. No system has only pluses and no system has only minuses," the prime minister said.

Marjan Batagelj, the chairman and majority owner of Postojnska Jama, the operator of Postojna Cave, said it was time for concrete measures, calling for lower taxation of wages and greater labour flexibility.

"We must not become a tax island. All countries around us are reducing taxes and we need to make sure our business environment is competitive," said Batagelj, while at the same time calling for a more effective education system.

He pointed to Switzerland as an example of a country where politics is constantly coordinating its actions with business.

This was echoed by Heinz Karrrer, the president of the biggest economic organisation in Switzerland, Economiesuisse, who said politics should listen very carefully to the needs of business when it comes to creating jobs.

The afternoon part of the meeting, which also featured Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj and Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Minister Ksenija Klampfer, looked in more detail at the forthcoming measures in Slovenia.

Bertoncej said the government would present measures coming as part of "comprehensive tax optimisation" to social partners within a month.

He called for an all-encompassing review, noting that while labour was taxed heavily in Slovenia, the tax burdens on capital were lighter than in other countries.

Promising that the business environment would remain predictable, Bertoncej also announced a gradual introduction of measures, with the biggest batch expected in 2019, to be followed by individual measures in 2020 and 2021.

Among concrete measures being mulled by the government, he mentioned easing taxation on the holiday allowance, changes to income tax brackets, to general income tax allowance, as well as to the corporate tax rate.

Bertoncelj, who also sees reserves as regards the effectiveness of the public sector, added that macroeconomic stability would be the priority focus of the ministry.

Economy Minister Počivalšek highlighted labour force shortages as a key factor undermining growth, suggesting that focusing on raising the average wage would have been better than the recent focus on the minimum wage.

He added that "a step forward" could also be possible when it comes to expanding possibilities to lay off unmotivated staff.

Labour Minister Klampfer also called for reducing the tax burden on labour "across the entire vertical", while stressing the need for social dialogue.

Mladina: Šarec facing first test as Janša wakes up

STA, 25 January 2019 - The left-leaning weekly Mladina says in its latest commentary that the European Parliament election will be the first serious test for Prime Minister Marjan Šarec as the Democrat (SDS) leader Janez Janša has come out from his hiding and started throwing "bombs", which include his attempt to portray Šarec and his government as an elite.

But in the commentary That Crazy Dance, editor-in-chief Grega Repovž notes that contrary to popular belief, Janša is not a great tactician at all.

"No. Janez Janša has no clue about political tactics - otherwise he would not be the most alienated politician, with whom no-one wants to cooperate. Everybody avoids him."

A detailed look at Janša's latest post on Facebook reveals that he has launched a pre-election attack on his main political opponent Šarec, who is leading all popularity lists, the commentary says, noting that the election campaign has already started.

The strategy is to present Šarec and the government as an elite. "Janša knows that he does not need to go after Šarec individually, he only needs to present the entire government as an elite."

When it comes to the impeachment motion filed against Šarec over the failure to implement the Constitutional Court decision on financing of private primary schools, Mladina says that the matter should be given a closer look.

"What private education we are talking about? Church education. What is therefore Janša's goal? It is to take away from Šarec the aura of a man who can sing Partisan songs and read at a liturgy."

This is a great advantage for Šarec, as he is reconciliation personified, which people like. Janša, on the other hand, wants to show that Šarec is not that, that he is actually a member of the elite, a first-class new man of the old forces.

"This is stupid, of course, but it has never been about truth and facts when it comes to Janša."

Related: All our posts about Janez Janša are here, while those about Marjan Šarec are here

Demokracija: Šarec believes he has supernatural powers

STA, 24 January 2019 - The right-leaning weekly Demokracija says in its latest commentary that judging by his behaviour and statements, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has started to believe that he is Janez Drnovšek reincarnated, but he is actually a socialist who is pretending to be a saviour with imagined supernatural powers.

Portraying him as a Janez Drnovšek or even more favourably are mostly the media inclined to the left, editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says under the headline Back to the Future.

"In a nutshell - Šarec is a superman, who will solve all problems of Slovenians with the help from the extremist Left. Just look what wonders the latest raise of the minimum wage does," he says in reference to the steep rise in Šarec's popularity.

"Because of the project which is being praised to the skies and which has raised the minimum wage by an unbelievable 29 euros, people to whom it is intended will pay a higher income tax and will get lower child benefits. You really have to have supernatural powers to achieve that."

But Biščak notes that when socialists wanted to determine prices and what people need and what not, shortages usually followed, which was "miraculously never felt by the elite of the saviours", but by common people.

"Every measure taken by any socialist government turned out to be detrimental. Socialism has never worked and has left only devastation and tens of millions of victims behind. You don't need supernatural powers for that, you need to be wicked and evil."

In socialism, the only way to convince people is to limit their freedom and make them poor, and this is what the Šarec government is doing. The socialist logic is that people always need socialist saviours with imagined supernatural powers, concludes the commentary.

All our posts in this series can be found here

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