Mladina: Why is Cerar so friendly to Hungary?
STASTA, 23 November 2018 - The left-wing weekly magazine Mladina analyses on Friday Slovenia's conduct towards Hungary regarding its participation in the Koper-Divača rail expansion. It wonders what was behind the former Miro Cerar government's push for Hungary's involvement and its lenient treatment of the neighbour's plans to extend influence in Slovenia.
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has pulled out of the rail expansion because he changed his mind when realising he bet on the wrong horse, editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says under From Hungary to Koper, noting Orbán counted on his EPP "comrade" Janez Janša, into whose media outlets he has invested a lot of money.
If Janša was in power, Orbán would probably already be buying ships to create a Hungarian fleet, Repovž says in reference to Orbán's statement that he wanted to make the Slovenian port of Koper Hungary's gateway to the world.
He also made it clear, as he visited the Hungarian minority in the Slovenian town of Lendava last week, that Cerar's government had promised Hungary 50,000 sq. meters of land in Luka Koper, that is a position which would enable it to form its own fleet.
What Repovž finds particularly intriguing is former Prime Minister Cerar's conduct in relation of Orbán's "attack" on Luka Koper, which operates the port of Koper.
He finds Cerar's enthusiasm about the rail expansion towards Koper incomprehensible in the first place, saying expanding the port on the small Slovenian coast is not the only development option.
The editor notes that with 200 million euro, the amount Hungary would contribute for the rail expansion, miracles could be made with more environment-friendly projects.
Nevertheless, Cerar was pushing for the port's expansion despite potential environmental issues.
He also insisted on Hungary's participation despite being aware that Orbán was betting on somebody else in Slovenia and that by sponsoring Janša and his Democrats (SDS), he was in fact undermining Cerar.
Cerar's conduct was "totally illogical", even more so because he in fact supported the potential of a country which is Slovenia's competitor.
What is also puzzling is that Cerar's government silently accepted Hungary's extending its influence in the Slovenian region of Prekmurje, where it is making investments and granting citizenship to members of the Hungarian ethnic minority.
Repovž wonders what was behind the Cerar government's benevolent treatment of Orbán's plans and why he was so outraged when Orbán announced to pull out of the rail project.
Demokracija: Sickened by Janković's victory in Ljubljana
STASTA, 22 November 2018 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija deplores the election victory of Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković in the latest editorial, expressing concern about an emerging "kleptocratic axis" between Ljubljana, Maribor and Koper.
The editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says that Janković is running the capital city in a kleptocratic, corruptive and morally perverted way; "by awarding some kind of LGBT certificates to schools and kindergartens he indoctrinates the youngest with an ideology that defies common sense and Catholicism".
Biščak is also critical of the Catholic Church for not publicly endorsing Janković's challenger in Sunday's election, Anže Logar of the Democratic Party (SDS), suggesting this would be appropriate because of Janković's "arrogant and contemptuous attitude to Catholics".
"It would be too cheap to point the finger at the Church for making a new victory possible for Janković. No. Ljubljana remains the breeding ground of organised criminal rings and corruption, the city of the sheriff 10% who is distributing bread among parasites, consultants and the leftist city elite.
"This company, including the non-natives who have turned the capital into a little Yugoslavia, was obviously large enough for a victory at the given turnout."
However, Biščak also says that Anže Logar activated more of the electorate than anyone would expect and that the proportion of the vote he won indicates an inevitable end to Janković's parallel economy.
Biščak also expresses concern about what he terms a kleptocratic north-south axis in the headline of his commentary. He is concerned the run-offs in Maribor and Koper may be won by "persons who have the same mindset as the Ljubljana sheriff. Boris Popović has 'proved' himself, and Saša Arsenovič (if he defeats Franc Kangler) certainly will as he has said it publicly that Zoran Janković is his mayoral role model."
Referring to the poor showing of the ruling coalition, Biščak says that such a result would send party heads rolling in developed democracies. He also rebukes the left bloc for failing to file top-tier mayoral contenders in Ljubljana and Maribor.
However, he offers the higher turnout as proof that "political apathy is over and that a large part of the country that is not related to urban municipalities is healthy and not yet infected with the immoral leftist agenda".
Other articles in this series can be found here
