September 07, 2018
Mladina calls for loud rejection of populist nationalism
STA - The threat posed by the militia set up by Andrej Šiško must be taken seriously, says the weekly Mladina in its editorial, drawing parallels with Serb Vojislav Šešelj's beginnings that resulted in one of the most bloody wars in Europe.
After photos of the militia in a forest flooded the social media last weekend many wondered why Šiško had not been arrested by the police earlier. "But things are not so simple and there is no reason to direct your anger at the police or the Interior Ministry."
The police must have evidence of criminal activity. Šiško and his masked men could not be prosecuted simply because some of them have firearms, which are probably legal, anyway, editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says under the headline Following Šiško's Arrest.
The situation is the same as in Chemnitz, the anti-migration protesters there also cannot simply be arrested even though Germany has one of the strictest legislations in Europe.
Moreover, the paper says that police officers might also share the views of the men who joined the militia which Šiško calls the Štajerska Guard.
What is more, simply arresting Šiško to prove a point and then having to release him would only give him more power. "It is very important that the police... does not contribute to the popularity of these very dangerous developments."
The weekly is also disappointed with the role the media have played. "Such phenomena are to be commented on, put into perspective; Šiško should not be given airtime to spread his ideas on nearly every channel."
What is more, the civil society must also take a stand against such actions. The unity of the Slovenian nation in opposition to such phenomena in the late 1980s allowed that the independence war was brief.
"Yes, we're referring to the independence efforts and at its core was the rejection of such populist nationalism."
Demokracija rejects criticism of last’s weeks cover
STA - The editor-in-chief of the weekly Demokracija, which has come under fire over its front-page picture of a white woman being touched by black hands, rejects all criticism in the latest editorial. Jože Biščak says the "unimaginable pogrom against the freedom of speech" started only because a group of people was upset by the image.
The cover in question
"We are of course already used to the brutal manipulation of the truth from the ideologically motivated propagandists," Biščak adds.
While saying that he will not apologies to anyone, he says he would like to respond to a report by the public broadcaster, citing official statistics of rape in Slovenia as an argument that Demokracija is misleading people and unnecessarily spreading fear.
"Our front page does not speak of rape but of migrants bringing a culture of rape (also to Slovenia). There is a big difference."
Elaborating on this, Biščak argues that the culture of rape is an established sociological term used when speaking of societies where rape is socially acceptable and not treated as a crime such as Pakistan, where it is rarely treated as a crime.
According to the Interior Ministry's data, 475 Pakistani men entered Slovenia and requested asylum until the end of July, which is more than a quarter of all asylum seekers, he says.
In the UK, processes are mounting against Pakistani raping gangs, and this is what the front-page is all about - about the culture that these people bring with them, he says.
"It is actually funny that leftists have accused Demokracija of racism. You know, they claim that race (much like gender) is a social construct. If that is true than racism does not exist," Biščak says under the headline ‘Cover Girl’.
