Nobody wants another member state whose authorities undermine the EU legal order

Joint reaction by MEPs Irena Joveva and Klemen Grošelj to the vote (and) on the resolution on the rule of law in Slovenia:

“The fact that the resolution on the issue of the rule of law and fundamental rights in Slovenia has today been endorsed by a majority in the European Parliament regrettably puts us again in the company of countries such as Hungary and Poland, where the state authorities have turned the democratic order of the country into the authoritarian rule (of the interest groups) of a single party. The resolution adopted today highlights cases of systematic violations of the rule of law based on credible sources, such as the European Commission’s annual reports on the rule of law and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

The text only includes a few of the key problems encountered under the current authorities. These have escalated and we have been drawing attention to them for quite some time. In addition to clear requirements concerning respect for media freedom, in particular the independence of the national broadcaster RTV Slovenia and the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), and the obligations of the state, which must respect its own legislation, key messages include the exceeding of the powers of the executive, systematic erosion of judicial and prosecutorial independence, politicisation of the police and attacks on all remaining independent regulatory institutions.

The current Government in Slovenia has done a good job of destroying the reputation of our country, which until recently served as an example of exemplary democracy in Europe (among the so-called new Member States). The aim of such a policy is autocracy, which is set against a backdrop of kleptocracy. It should not be forgotten that this also weakens Slovenia’s position within the EU where important reform processes are set to begin with the start of the French Presidency and the new German Government.

It is telling that the European Parliament is forced to require the Slovenian Government to respect the basic principles of a democratic society, such as the separation of powers and the implementation of Constitutional Court decisions. There is an acute awareness in the European Parliament of the systematic violation of the rule of law and democratic norms in Slovenia, and nobody wants another member state whose authorities undermine the EU legal order.”

In her video statement, Joveva made an additional comment:

“Nobody else is to blame for this resolution but the current Government, headed by its Prime Minister. The text contains only some of the most obvious examples of their actions, their attempts to systematically dismantle all social systems or bend them to their purposes, their non-compliance with their own legislation, their attacks, and their deliberate polarisation. False narratives about communist conspiracies under the guise of defending traditional values are no longer credible. The aim of such politics is not to defend these values. Such politics has no values at all. None. The aim of such politics is purely and simply autocracy, set against a backdrop of kleptocracy. And… it is telling that the European Parliament is forced to, by means of a resolution, require the Slovenian Government to respect the basic principles of a democratic society. But quite simply, nobody wants another member state whose authorities undermine the legal order of the European Union.”