The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 5 March 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Slovenian media not leftist

STA, 5 March 2021 - The left-wing weekly Mladina rejects the allegation that Slovenian media have left bias, arguing in Friday's commentary that the opposite is in fact true: the majority of Slovenian media are conservative and promulgate economic liberalism.

In the commentary On Media Bias, Mladina takes the example of both leading TV stations, public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and private broadcaster POP TV, which it says are "economically not just liberal but mostly neo-liberal," rarely giving leftist ideas airtime.

"Both stations advocate low taxes, and businessmen are the principal interlocutors when it comes to assessing the effectiveness and quality of the state administration. Speaking against the capitalism order is near blasphemy."

The commentator argues that Slovenia in fact has just one properly leftist party in parliament, the Left, which is "despised and denigrated by the majority of Slovenian journalists and editors".

"The Slovenian media industry is far from leftist. If one compares them to German media, the majority of Slovenian media would place in the conservative camp - and even the magazine you are holding would be more centrist than leftist in Germany."

The commentator also says it is not true Slovenian media are friendlier to "so-called left parties" and their leaders, they are just as ruthless to them as they are to Prime Minister Janez Janša and his SDS, and not just when left parties are in government.

The SDS's fishy dealings and Janša's odd statements appear in media reports so often not because of alleged media bias, but because of the simple fact that "Janša and the SDS are connected to so many inadmissible actions, suspicious transactions and instances of questionable conduct that this is of course news for the majority of the media".

"It is possible to criticise Slovenian media for many things. But if Janša was treated as uncompromisingly as they treat the other politicians, the majority of present-day youngsters would only know the name Janez Janša from the history of independence because he would have been long gone from Slovenian politics."

Demokracija: Janša’s invitation to EU fact-finding mission

STA, 3 March 2021 - The right-wing magazine Demokracija welcomes Prime Minister Janez Janša's invitation for the European Commission to send a fact-finding mission to Slovenia in the latest editorial, expecting it will put the record straight and show how biased Slovenian media are.

The weekly says Janša's letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for Brussels representatives to come to Slovenia to see the state of the rule of law, democracy and media freedom themselves brought an expression of concern on the faces of the left wing.

"The media mainstream reported that the Commission president rejected the possibility of a visit by a special group. In their view this is her brush-off to the Slovenian PM. Well, it is a poor consolation. It was merely a clear message that in writing reports about Slovenia the Brussels bureaucracy will take into account not just what it is being sold by the prevailing media, NGOs, 'academics' and left political parties (including at the EU level), but will also listen carefully to right-wing government structures.

"And it was a word of caution to European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova (who has been leading an outright campaign against the government over alleged violation of media freedom), to take that into consideration. This is one of the reasons we were able to read dramatic writings at the weekend about 'Brussels' interference as a double-edged sword' [...]"

The weekly finds that Janša's letter has achieved its purpose. "The parasites have come out in the open at last. It is clear they do not want a disclosure (when talking about the media) of the dirty details, incestuous links and ideologically coordinated attacks that have led to a completely distorted media landscape that has been teaching the audience what to think rather that give it an opportunity to think based on unbiased and credible information.

"More than 80% of the media structure in Slovenia is of the left world view, the ideological competition is being under attack all the time and the prevailing concept in the media is political correctness and liberal democracy as the only redeeming and allowed ideology," writes the weekly under the headline Parmenides' Chariot.

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 4 March 2021 - Media freedom in Slovenia will be one of the items on the European Parliament's agenda as it meets for a plenary next week as the planned debate on government attempts to silence media in Poland and Hungary has been expanded to include Slovenia.

The expansion of the agenda was endorsed by the Conference of Presidents, which comprises the European Parliament's president and the political group chairmen. It was proposed by the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the second largest group in the EP, which also includes two out of Slovenia's eight MEPs. The debate will be held on Wednesday at 3 PM.

The largest political group in the European Parliament, that of the European People's Party (EPP), which also includes the party of the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, said it had opposed expanding the debate to Slovenia.

Before the plenary, the situation in Slovenian media landscape is scheduled to be discussed on Friday afternoon by the EP's group for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights.

The group, led by Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (Renew), is expected to host an online meeting with various stakeholders.

While the final list of participants could not yet be obtained, the three-hour meeting is expected to start at 1:30pm and should be virtual and open to public.

The draft list features European Commission representatives and a number of invitees from Slovenia, including Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina, NGO association CNVOS director Goran Forbici, public broadcaster RTV Slovenija supervisory board member Borut Rončevič, DNS and ZNP journalist associations presidents Petra Lesjak Tušek and Matevž Tomšič, investigative journalist Lenart J. Kučić and Marko Milosavljević, a professor at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Studies.

The group's chair has also invited Prime Minister Janez Janša and Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti. The pair have recently said the debate should be public and in an in-person format held in the European Parliament. There should also be enough time to comprehensively present all the discussed topics.

Janša and Simoniti also invited in 't Veld to join a fact-finding mission to Slovenia that Janša proposed in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last Friday.

The EPP group today officially welcomed Janša's invitation for a fact-finding mission to Slovenia, arguing that debate on the situation in Slovenia would be suitable if such a mission showed it was justified. Concerns linked to the rule of law are not a political game played every time someone you do not like says something, the EPP group spokesperson said.

The S&D is focusing on Wednesday debate. Asked whether they were considering initiating Article 7 procedure in Slovenia's case, the group's leader Iratxe Garcia did not rule out the option but said the debate on Wednesday would show whether further steps were needed. She noted the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs would be responsible for such a move.

STA, 1 March 2021 - Two months after the expiration of public and commercial news service contracts between the STA and the government, which had previously been renewed annually, the STA restricted access to its news items for the government administration on Monday. Parliament Speaker Igor Zorčič believes the time has come for the matter to be resolved in court.

The state is obligated to provide sufficient funding for the STA, therefore the government and the Government Communications Office (UKOM) on its behalf must do everything in their power for this to become reality, Zorčič, a member of the coalition partner Modern Centre Party (SMC) said today.

He noted that MPs from the ranks of the SMC had spearheaded amendments to the seventh economic stimulus package that addressed funding for the press agency for the final quarter of 2020 and for 2021.

"I believe that all conditions have been met, even though this is a sad moment, for the STA to try to find justice in court. The legislative basis exists, but if the government and the STA are unable to resolve this on their own and in a peaceful way, the STA probably has no other option," Zorčič said.

When asked whether the SMC could still influence the course of events in some way, Zorčič said that the more politics interfered with the STA, the worse. Likely, the time has come for courts to resolve the situation if the politics is incapable of doing so.

The opposition, on the other hand, once again called for sustainable funding for the press agency. Under the STA act, the state is obligated to fund the public service the STA provides. Payments are then implemented via annual contracts based on annual business plans approved by the agency's supervisory board, which is appointed by the National Assembly.

Every year since Slovenia gained independence and the STA was established by the government, the government and the agency have also signed contracts allowing the government administration access to the agency's news items in full, not just the segments open to the public.

In autumn, UKOM suspended funding demanding information which the STA management says UKOM has no right to access. It added, however, that it would be fully willing to provide the information to the government, if the government requested, but this has not happened.

In December, the SMC pushed through an amendment to an economic stimulus package under which the government had to pay all outstanding obligations to the STA and provide funding for the public service in 2021 based on the STA's business plan even if the sides fail to sign a funding agreement.

After that, UKOM paid all the bills issued for the commercial contract until the end of the year, but no contracts have been signed for 2021, neither for the public service as required under the law, nor for the commercial access to the STA newswire for government bodies.

Opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) deputy group leader Brane Golubović said today this indicates that the government is able to knowingly break the law without consequence because there is nobody to oppose it. The government is not doing this only with the STA, which he finds concerning.

"We're actually a bit shocked that somebody can so blatantly violate the law. We can demand an extraordinary plenary, an emergency committee session, we can propose a law. But if a part of the coalition sees no problem in the government violating the law, then we can only be worried about the country we're living in," Golubović said.

Matej T. Vatovec, an MP for the opposition Left, believes that Prime Minister Janez Janša is continuing his assault on independent media. The fact that UKOM did not renew the contract with the STA only goes to show that the government wishes to subdue every independent institution and clearly wants to literally destroy the STA, he said.

This should set off alarms, as the STA is an institution of national importance, therefore pressure from the government is unacceptable, said Vatovec, adding that the Left and the opposition were looking for legislative solutions.

Jurij Lep of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) expressed dissatisfaction, adding that the STA was one of the few more or less unbiased media outlets in the country. The legislative branch obviously does not have enough power to pressure the government and UKOM, he said.

A number of media associations and organisations have urged funding for the STA in the past months. Most recently, Reporters without Borders said that suspension of funding was an attempt to undermine the agency.

STA, 24 February 2020 - The Government Communication Office (UKOM) has suspended the financing of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) again, declining to pay it for the services provided as a public service in January on the ground that the parties have not yet signed a contract for the year.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, UKOM said it had met all its obligations to the STA under the agreement to perform the public service for 2020 on 27 January.

UKOM said that STA director Bojan Veselinovič had failed to submit the required documents, which it said he should have done under the agreement signed with UKOM under the previous director.

UKOM argues that with the last payment, any contractual relationship between UKOM and the STA has ended, so it "appears almost unbelievable that Veselinovič should issue an invoice for EUR 169,000 for the activities in January to UKOM".

"UKOM has obviously no legal basis based on which it could pay invoices sent by companies it has no valid contractual relationship with", which was why the payment had to be denied.

In response Veselinovič noted that a provision in the 7th coronavirus relief package, passed at the end of 2020, set forth that budget funds be provided to the STA for performing a public service for 2021 in line with the STA business plan, regardless of whether a contract with the founder has been signed or not.

Veselinovič called the development the launch of a new offensive against the STA, describing the excuse that there is no legal basis for the payment as "an outright eerie pretending of ignorance".

UKOM said it was willing to prepare a new contract should Veselinovič recognise UKOM as a "representative of the founder", adding that Veselinovič had expressed no interest for the contract to be signed.

UKOM refused to pay the monthly instalment for the public service provided by the STA for October and November, along with the payment of separate invoices for market-based services that the STA performs for state institutions.

Financing was suspended after the STA management declined to deliver all the documents and information UKOM requested, having assessed that delivery of some of the requested documents might compromise the agency's editorial independence, while others could only be accessed by the government acting as the sole shareholder of the STA.

Among other things, UKOM demanded pay data for all agency employees, all contracts for the STA's market services for several years, as well as explanations about the choice of interviewees and length of interviews.

After the National Assembly adopted a special amendment to the economic relief law stipulating that any overdue payments must be made within seven days after the entry into force of the act, UKOM turned to the European Commission with a query whether such financing of the STA was in compliance with state aid rules.

After the European commissioners for competition and values and transparency said the European Commission's approval in this case was not required, the government on 14 January temporarily approved payments to the STA.

STA, 22 February 2021 - Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (Renew) has invited PM Janez Janša to Brussels to take part in a discussion on the media in Slovenia that is expected to take place in March, public broadcaster TV Slovenija reported on Monday.

The MEP is the chair of the European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group within the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

Last week, after Janša accused Politico's journalist Lili Bayer of lying in her story about the media in Slovenia, the MEP said she believed there was sufficient ground for the group to start monitoring the situation in the country.

In 't Veld said today that the invitation to the joint discussion had also been sent to Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti, Government Communication Office (UKOM) director Uroš Urbanija, RTV Slovenija director general Igor Kadunc and to Ilinka Todorovski as RTV Slovenija's viewers and listeners' ombudsman.

"As we did with other countries, Malta, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Belgium, we will of course invite the prime minister, ministers and other relevant representatives to present their views to us. For us it's not important whether they belong to the right or left. Important are facts, discussions, so that we know what is going on," she said.

Earlier in the day, Janša was called on by the leaders of both junior government coalition partners, New Slovenia (NSi) and Modern Centre Party (SMC), to invite an EU mission to Slovenia to investigate the state of freedom of the press.

NSi leader and Defence Minister Matej Tonin said on Twitter European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova would learn the most about freedom of the press in Slovenia if she deployed a "fact-finding mission" to the country. His call was joined by SMC leader and Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek.

STA, 27 January 2021 - United Media, the media division of United Group, plans to expand to the Slovenian market this year by setting up a news portal under the N1 brand, which is already active in the region.

The Luxembourg-based United Media has already opened the Adria News subsidiary in Ljubljana under which the N1 Slovenija web portal will operate.

The portal is to be launched in the first half of this year. According to unofficial information obtained by the newspaper Finance it will kick off in spring.

N1 has established itself as a trust-worthy and independent media platform as well as number one pick by consumers in all the markets where it is present and N1 Slovenija aims to do the same in the Slovenian market by meeting the highest journalism standards, said United Media managing director Aleksandra Subotić in a press release issued on Wednesday.

Katja Šeruga has been appointed Adria News director as well as the portal's editor-in-chief. She previously worked as a journalist at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and commercial broadcaster POP TV. She was also the newspaper Večer's editor-in-chief and editor of the commercial broadcaster Kanal A news programme Svet.

The portal will seek to boost and elevate journalism in Slovenia, she said today. N1 Slovenija will cooperate with N1 international editorial department that features among others former BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks and ENEX managing director Adrian Wells.

United Media is not planning on setting up the N1 TV channel platform in Slovenia for now, Finance reported yesterday.

United Group, whose majority share was acquired by British fund BC Partners in 2019, already owns telecommunications provider Telemach, online shopping portal Shoppster and sports channels Sport Klub in Slovenia.

Some 25% stake has been reportedly retained by Serbian businessman Dragan Šolak, the founder of United Group. N1 news channels are currently present in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. N1 is the leading news media platform and CNN's partner in the region, reads the press release.

Meanwhile, Finance reported that five groups are interested in the takeover of telecoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije's subsidiary TS Media based on unofficial sources - one of Šolak's companies, Austrian publishing group Styria, one of businessman Martin Odlazek's groups, Hungarian TV2 and publishing company Adria Media.

Telekom Slovenije published a call for expressions of interest in a 100% stake in TS Media in November last year. The subsidiary's portfolio includes the news portal Siol.net, the search engine and web portal Najdi.si and the business news and assistance portal Bizi.si.

The state-owned telco would prefer to sell the entire stake but is also willing to consider selling TS Media's assets individually.

STA, 25 January -2021 The programming council of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija has appointed Andrej Grah Whatmough the new director general. Currently the chair of the broadcaster's supervisory board, he will succeed Igor Kadunc, who was eliminated in the first round of voting.

Grah Whatmough received 14 votes in the first round of voting on Monday and was then endorsed by the majority on the programming council in the run-off against Natalija Gorščak, the director of the broadcaster's TV division.

The new director had been mentioned as candidate for director general in an unsuccessful attempt to oust Kadunc last year. He will start his four-year term at the end of April.

Having graduated in law in 2008, Grah Whatmough owns a translation and interpreting company and his LinkedIn bio says he works as an independent tax law specialist.

He has been on the broadcaster's supervisory board since 2015 and was originally nominated by the Modern Centre Party (SMC).

STA, 14 January 2020 - The government has provisionally approved the release of overdue budget payments to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) as required by the 7th economic stimulus package, the Government Communications Office (UKOM) said on Thursday.

The provisional release of funds was cleared based on a message by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager which "indicates the possibility of a positive European Commission decision regarding the transfer of state aid for the STA" as the government awaits a final decision, UKOM said.

The government turned to the Commission to inquire whether public service payments to the STA may constitute illegal state aid after an amendment was adopted to the 7th economic stimulus act stipulating that overdue liabilities to the STA must be settled.

The Commission indicated in its public statements that the STA public service payment did not fall under its purview and deferred to the Slovenian authorities.

The STA had not received statutory payment for its public service for October and November, or payment under a separate contract for the provision of commercial services to the public administration for the two months.

Today, overdue payments for both the public service and for the commercial services were released.

The STA met the development with a relief, while making a renewed appeal to the government to provide financing in 2021 without making it dependent on any further conditions.

"Financing of the public service provided by the STA cannot be a mere temporary solution, it is an obligation on the part of the government under law," the STA management and staff said in a press release.

They noted that Commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Vera Jourova, in their letter to the STA yesterday, made it clear the Commission's assessment as to whether financing of the STA was a matter of illegal state aid is unnecessary. They also noted the special role of public media and that EU member states should refrain from attempts to put pressure on them.

As the STA supervisory board has adopted the agency's business plan for 2021 and has submitted it to the government, the legal basis for the funding of the public service in this year has been met.

"The STA expects that the government will respect legislation and will fulfil its obligations, as the STA has been for almost 30 years fulfilling its obligation of keeping the public informed," the release from the STA reads.

The independence of the national press agency is guaranteed by the STA act, implemented in 2011 to regulate the agency's status in accordance with modern standards.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said on Twitter that "we have managed to resolve the current complication regarding the financing of the STA, which will receive funding for the performance of public service.

"However, the responsibility of everyone involved is to sort out the contractual relationship between the STA and the UKOM in avoidance of such problems recurring."

EANA, the European Alliance of News Agencies, which in December described the suspension of financing as a form of pressure on the agency, said this was "good news for our member".

The release of funds was also welcomed by the Slovenian Journalists' Association (DNS) and the Trade Union of Slovenian Journalists, which urged UKOM to also tackle the financing of the STA public service in 2021.

The DNS called the development a "small, but important step following a fast European reaction".

Regarding that the approval of funds was merely provisional, the trade union said in a Facebook post that the European Commission had already given its answer regarding the issue of state aid.

Quoting European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova, the union said an additional assessment by the Commission was not necessary if the annual aid amount was not higher than EUR 15 million, while the STA receives about EUR 2 million annually from the state to perform public service.

STA, 29 December 2020 - The National Assembly voted 44:40 on Tuesday in favour of a last-minute amendment to the latest economic stimulus bill that the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) tabled to reinstate public financing of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

The amendment stipulates that the STA must get all due financing for its provision of public service for this year paid within 7 days after the entry into force of the stimulus bill.

For next year, it must get funds regardless of whether a new public service contract for the year is signed, as is customary every year.

The amendment was endorsed by the centre-left opposition plus seven of the eight MPs of the coalition SMC.

STA funding was suspended over a month ago after the management repeatedly refused to hand over documents requested by the Government Communication Office (UKOM).

The STA has not been paid for its performance of public service for October and November. The payment for December is not due yet.

According to two separate legal opinions, one by the government's own Office for Legislation, UKOM is not entitled to all the information it has requested.

Some of the documents UKOM requested are seen by the STA as interference in the agency's editorial independence since they have nothing to do with financial operations but refer to STA content production or contracts that have nothing to do with the public service.

The author of the amendment, SMC deputy group leader Janja Sluga, said the party decided for the amendment "because of UKOM's conduct and all the legal opinions, and because we are of the opinion that public service should be financed and that UKOM simply does not have the right to demand everything it demands of the STA".

Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič, another senior member of the SMC, said that the STA situation needed to be tackled at the legislative level and that the government's efforts so far had been insufficient.

He added that if there were any disagreements, for example regarding the STA's business plan, they should be resolved other than by cutting funds "and starving such an institution".

Prime Minister Janez Janša expressed opposition to the move on Twitter, used the hashtag #Zimbabwe and labelling the amendment as "a pinnacle of the rule of law".

STA, 28 December 2020 - The management of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has appealed to Prime Minister Janez Janša and members of his government to support the call by the agency's staff and supervisory board for the Government Communication Office (UKOM) to restore the financing of the public service provided by the STA.

In a press release on Monday, the STA management says that after failing to pay the STA the fee for public service for October, UKOM now also rejected the claim for the fee for November as well as refused to pay for the services provided by the STA for the government administration for October and November.

It notes that UKOM had been regularly meeting its liabilities towards the STA until October, but stopped since then even though the regulatory framework has not changed in the meantime.

"Through arbitrary suspension of financing of the public service, UKOM has overstepped its powers under law and contract," the release reads, adding that such a view had been upheld by the government legislation service as well as by a legal opinion commissioned by the STA.

The STA continues to perform the public service as set out by the relevant law, thus honouring its commitments despite the suspension of financing, while the government has not yet taken its position on the matter, despite several appeals, notes the release.

UKOM continues to make the monthly payments conditional on the handover of certain documents, despite failing to cite the legal basis or provide a suitable authorisation to access those documents, the management says.

Repeating its readiness to provide requested information to the owner in accordance with valid legislation, the management notes that it follows from a freedom of information request response to a coalition MP that the government as the STA shareholder has never authorised UKOM to act on its behalf.

The STA management also notes that the parliamentary Culture Committee urged the government on 14 December to meet within three days its obligations and pay the STA for its services and thus ensure the agency's continued stability. UKOM has not honoured the committee's resolution and has even announced it will not pay any more invoices to STA this year.

This is why the STA management expects the government to restore financing of the STA for 2020 and to sign the annual agreement to pay the STA for public service in 2021, since as the sole STA shareholder, it has an obligation to ensure comprehensive and undisrupted performance of the STA public service based on the annual business plan.

The STA supervisory board adopted the 2021 business plan and sent it to the government on 21 December.

The management wonders how long the government would allow such a situation to continue. "Allowing such a situation calls all members of the government to responsibility to put in their word and do all within their remit for regular financing of the STA's activities to be resumed," reads the release.

Modern Centre Party (SMC) leader and Economic Development and Technology Minister Zdravko Počivalšek meanwhile said that the matter had to be resolved before the end of the year. He is to propose to the government a decree "giving clear powers and instructions" to UKOM.

"The government must resolve this urgently, that is before the end of the year because the STA is a very important institution and its work must not be in jeopardy. It is a matter of special urgency to make sure its employees ... get paid."

Another member of the cabinet, Education Minister Simona Kustec, also a member of the SMC, also expressed the wish that "this unnecessary conflict" being fought on the backs of STA employees be resolved as soon as possible.

Speaker Igor Zorčič, also a member of the coalition SMC, said he would actively advocate for the resolution of this issue as soon as possible. His office said that more is to be known tomorrow, but would not go into details.

Zorčič also told the STA that he supported the efforts of STA employees and expected the government to heed the decisions of the parliamentary Culture Committee to provide sustainable funding for the STA as soon as possible.

However, both Prime Minister Janša and UKOM boss Uroš Urbanija said on Twitter that UKOM would insist on the STA providing the disputed documents to UKOM before paying its liabilities.

Pogodbene obveznosti do @STA bodo izpolnjene takoj, ko bo UKOM prejel in preveril zahtevano dokumentacijo. Pozivanje @vladaRS k nezakonitemu ravnanju v korist direktorja agencije, ki eklatantno krši pogodbo in ogroža socialni položaj zaposlenih, je posmeh vladavini prava.

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) December 28, 2020

Veselinovič @STA_novice je podpisal pogodbo, da je UKOM "predstavnik ustanovitelja". Ko je ta "predstavnik ustanovitelja" zahteval dokumentacijo, pa se je spomnil, da UKOM ni "predstavnik ustanovitelja". Denar bi, ampak bohnedaj, da ga kdo kaj. Še #Vesel bi ga težko podprl. https://t.co/lkSn8Kk6yr

— Uroš Urbanija (@UrosUrbanija) December 28, 2020

Janša said that "calls to illegal action to the benefit of the agency's director, who is in blatant violation of the contract and jeopardises the social situation of employees, are mocking the rule of law".

STA director Bojan Veselinovič denied allegations that he had called for illegal action, instead he was the one being forced to act illegally by "a series of letters from UKOM director". He believes that UKOM's actions are making a mockery of the rule of law.

He also said he never claimed that UKOM did not have the power to sign the contract on behalf of the government. "I did raise the issue, however, that UKOM does not have the power of shareholder to access the documents and the data it wants to see because it signed the contract."

Janša claimed in his response that if STA management believed UKOM did not have the power to sign the annual public service contract it should not have signed it.

Veselinovič said that Urbanija "violates not only contractual obligations toward the STA but also forces the government, which is required by law to ensure funding of the agency's public service, to violate the law".

The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) echoed a similar position to Janša's, saying that the work performed must be paid and that the payment must be made as soon as the STA forwards the requested documents to UKOM. The party believes that the issue could be resolved between UKOM and the STA.