The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 10 September 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here
Mladina: Govt acting childishly on epidemic
STA, 10 September 2021 - The government's decision to give up on efforts to systemically stem the spread of the epidemic and instead shift the responsibility for this onto individuals and let the virus run its course is infantile and constitutes a dereliction of duty, says the weekly Mladina in its latest editorial.
"The authorities' decision to call it a day is a decision that will lead to excess deaths and excess cases of long Covid. But this is not something that should be accepted. No authority has the right to say: We have given you the vaccine, you refused to get vaccinated, so we give up."
If you are in a position of authority, you cannot fail to do your duty because you are offended, you must act to the benefit of the people, including those who do not heed your warnings.
The weekly wonders why those who have been vaccinated, those who must not get a jab out of health reasons or have compromised immune systems, and children are now being punished by a lack of restrictions.
Of course, there are some individuals who are doing their best, including the health minister, but this is not enough, says the editorial You Know That They Left Us to the Virus, Right?.
"To give up when one has the power to act means dereliction of duty. Amid a lack of a serious policy on the fight against the epidemic Slovenia has become some kind of a virus minefield. In only three weeks it has climbed to the top of the EU ranking according to the number of infections."
The paper concludes on a more positive note, hopeful that the authorities will realise how irresponsible and dangerous this is and start taking measures, following in the footsteps of more developed European countries.
Demokracija: Media coverage of BSF not surprising
STA, 9 September 2021 - The weekly Demokracija says in its latest editorial entitled Event on the Island (of the Stupid) that the lack of media coverage of the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) is shocking but not surprising.
Minimizing and trivialising an event whose attendance exceeded all expectations and showed that a number of leaders very much care about Europe, has been brought to extreme in the "hair-splitting search for criticism and pathological hatred towards Janez Janša".
An incident in which "a few leftist lunatics" unfolded a flag on the staircase under the church on Bled island to protest "against alleged Fascism in Slovenia" was presented almost as a highlight of the forum by mainstream media, the weekly says.
"Many important and ground-breaking things happened. But the mainstream media either deliberately overlooked them or highlighted the people who cried over the fact that Europe does not want to accept thousands of Afghans, who are leaving their wives and children at home and fleeing instead of fighting against the dictatorship of the Taliban."
As expected, also popular was the "'eternal' topic of the leftists" - the rule of law in Slovenia. Reports were also "spiced up" with the "alleged avalanche of European criticism" targeting Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, who reiterated in Brussels that the EU will not open humanitarian corridors and will not be granting asylums to all Afghans.
This was reaffirmed in a joint statement by interior ministers of EU countries, but the highlight of mainstream media reporting was debates of the leftists in the European Parliament, with MEP of the Swedish Left Party Malin Björk becoming a star for wearing a T-shirt with a sign ZLOvenijo ČUTIM.
"That was a disgrace without compare, a gesture unbecoming of an MEP, which in these parts leftists presented as a concern over Slovenia," reads the commentary.
All our posts in this series are here
