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Janez Janša in Brussels (picture from July 2020)
Photo:
John Thys / dpa
There was a scandal in the European Parliament with the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.
At a hearing on the media situation in his country on Friday, the right-wing conservative head of government demanded that a video he had submitted on the subject be shown at the beginning.
After he was denied this request, there was a heated exchange with committee chairwoman Sophie in 't Veld.
Eventually Janša left the webstream without saying goodbye.
He no longer took part in the scheduled question and answer session.
In 't Veld spoke of a lack of respect.
Critics accuse Janša, whose party belongs to the Christian Democratic party family in Europe, for a long time, of putting pressure on independent media in Slovenia.
The Prime Minister himself abused domestic and foreign journalists who report critically.
Among other things, the members of the observation group for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights wanted to question the politician on Friday.
Such meetings are usually not broadcast publicly, but Janša insisted on them.
In the middle of the year Slovenia takes over the rotating presidency of the 27 EU states.
According to Janša, the video in question was about attacks and an attempted murder of journalists in Slovenia.
He didn't say why exactly he wanted to show the video.
Videos in the committee are not common
In 't Veld pointed out that the file was submitted too late.
She said there were technical problems.
The video could be shown at the end of the session.
In any case, it would be sent to all MPs.
The liberal politician emphasized several times that she did not want to cover up the video.
In principle, however, it is not customary for films to be shown in the committee.
She stressed that Janša, as prime minister, would certainly be able to verbally describe the situation in his country.
In return, Janša accused her of censorship and stressed that the video was sent to parliament three hours before the start of the session.
The whole thing is a pre-arranged thing.
His minister of culture, Vasko Simoniti, also disconnected from the video switch without warning.
Janša's behavior is a "farce"
The MPs reacted indignantly and concerned.
"Janša's behavior in front of our parliamentary committee is a farce and unworthy of a head of government," said the SPD MEP Katarina Barley of the dpa news agency.
Instead of asking the questions, Jansa got cold feet and fled the ongoing meeting.
"Jansa's systematic dismantling of media freedom, his bad insults against journalists combined with the inability to face democratic control, are extremely worrying and do not bode well for the Slovenian Council Presidency, which is about to begin."
Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens) spoke of a "mini Trump".
Jansa deliberately derailed the factual discussion.
"Actually, that was the best demonstration and illustration of what is happening in the country under his leadership." With a view to the Slovenian EU Council Presidency and the spread of the populist camp in Europe, this is worrying, he told the dpa.
The 62-year-old Janša became Prime Minister of Slovenia for the first time in 2004 and has now held the office for the third time.
His style is considered authoritarian.
