Slovenian SD leader Tanja Fajon hopes that the Slovak parliamentary elections will have an impact on EU policy on the war in Ukraine. “This change will certainly bring a kind of new dynamic to the European Union”, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the interview with APA, referring to the “pro-Russian” policies of the presumed winner of the elections, Róbert Fico. So far, with the exception of Hungary, there is “no political option that would have explicitly sided with the Russian aggressor”.
Fico’s “Smer” (Direction) belongs to the Party of European Social Democrats (PES), of which Fajon is vice-leader. “We are following with interest what is happening in Slovakia,” she said. Fico has repeatedly caused “controversies” within the European party family. “Now he is definitely causing this through his pro-Russian and anti-American stance by condemning the war in Ukraine,” said the former MEP. There have been discussions about the suspension of Fico several times in the past. If a coalition is formed with right-wing extremist parties after the elections, there will be “very serious discussions” within the PES, the leader of the Slovenian Social Democrats (SD) announced.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs admitted that the population’s “discontent” was growing when it came to Ukraine because sanctions on Russia would also affect the European economy. “The longer the war goes on, the greater the skepticism will be about whether we will do enough to ensure peace talks begin,” she said. Slovenia continues to support Ukraine with humanitarian, material and military assistance; the objective continues to be the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity. It is important to achieve a lasting and just peace, Fajon said, in view of the Western Balkans, where there is still great instability after the wars of the 1990s.
In this context, Fajon reiterated his call for an acceleration of the EU enlargement process. Given the years of delays, Western Balkan states’ skepticism towards European policy is “understandable”, she said in response to a question about the rather low enthusiasm for reforms in the region compared to Ukraine. In view of the enlargement target date of 2030, recently announced by EU Council President Charles Michel, Fajon currently sees “perhaps the last opportunity for the Western Balkans to support this timetable and commit to reforms”.
In any case, there is a new “awareness within the EU that we have to join forces”, reported Fajon. This also applies to the attitude towards Türkiye, a long-time candidate for membership. European ministers only recently spoke about resuming accession negotiations with the country, “and there was practically no state that said no to this process”.
Fajon harshly criticized the failure of European states in migration policy. “As a former MEP, I have to point the finger at European governments,” she said. The European Parliament approved a series of laws years ago that would have improved the Dublin system, for example, but the matter was stuck in the European Council. The reason for the blockades is the “distrust” between States and the instrumentalization of the issue, particularly by right-wing parties. When asked whether the failure of the migration and asylum package decided by EU interior ministers would not benefit right-wing populist parties in the European elections, Fajon responded in the affirmative. “But the right-wing parties that benefit from this will also have to address the issue of migration, because this issue will not disappear from the agenda. And then it will be interesting to see how they approach it.”
Fajon admitted that migration figures in Slovenia are currently “worrying” and signaled a move away from the previous open borders policy for new Schengen member Croatia. In light of recent announcements from Germany, but also Italy and Austria about border closures, “we will also have to think seriously about what we will do with the border with Croatia”. What is important, however, is that Croatia receives better help to protect its external borders. In this regard, Fajon also reiterated his criticism of Austria’s border controls with his country, which have been in force for eight years.
With a view to the upcoming replacement of the EU’s top positions next year, the Slovenian called for greater consideration for new EU members. After the 2019 European elections, none of the four top positions (President of the Commission, the Council and the Parliament, as well as EU Foreign Affairs Representative) were held by anyone from the states that joined after 2004. “The last time we this part of Europe has been forgotten, perhaps because of selfishness in the migration crisis”, he criticized. This time this should no longer happen and, in addition to the results of political elections, geographic and gender balance must also be guaranteed.
“I don’t see that the discussions are moving in the direction of the main candidates this time, neither one way nor the other,” said Fajon when asked who could become the standard-bearer of the EU Social Democrats in the European elections. in early June. But the issue is not yet completely decided, he referred to the electoral congress of the EU’s second largest party family in November in Malaga, where Fajon would also like to meet the new SPÖ leader, Andreas Babler, in person. In any case, there are many potentially good top candidates within the party family, such as former EU MEP, President of Parliament, Prime Minister and President Borut Pahor. “Why shouldn’t there be a top candidate from Slovenia?” Fajon asked rhetorically.
Fajon praised the cooperation of Central and Eastern European states in the C5 group (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia). “We strengthen trust only through these meetings”, emphasized the Slovenian Foreign Minister, who would like to host the C5 meeting next year. It is also possible to transfer the format to the level of the head of government “if an important issue really needs to be resolved for all these countries”.
Slovenia is also closely following internal political developments in Austria, after the FPÖ increasingly attacked Slovenes in Carinthia, most recently as part of a move by the Vienna city council to block municipal funding for the Student Club Slovenes in Vienna (KSŠŠD). Slovenia also lodged an official diplomatic protest due to an anti-Slovenian stance by FPÖ youth in the Carinthian state election campaign. Fajon “does not want to comment” on the fact that investigations against FPÖ young people were interrupted by the Klagenfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office. However, the deployment was “inadmissible” and “unacceptable” and there were apologies, for example, from Carinthian Governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ) and the FPÖ leadership for the detachment. “I hope this was enough of a lesson so that such things don’t happen again,” said the Slovenian Foreign Minister. In general, she stated: “It would be time for Austria to fully comply with Article 7 of the State Treaty (which contains the rights of the Slovenian ethnic group in Austria, note).”
When asked how Slovenia would react to an FPÖ-led federal government, Fajon said she “didn’t want to pre-judge” the outcome of the elections. “But if there is forceful action against members of the Slovenian ethnic group, we will certainly react accordingly,” she emphasized. “We of course hope that there will be a political majority in the elections that supports European values such as solidarity, democracy and the rule of law,” she added. The world is already very polarized and characterized by many armed conflicts, “and any new escalation of relations and tensions in our region would further threaten the well-being of our people”.
As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Slovenia intends to focus mainly on nuclear safety from January, Fajon announced. In this regard, she recently held discussions with the head of the UN nuclear agency IAEA, Rafael Grossi. Specifically, the question is whether the Geneva Convention is sufficient to protect nuclear facilities in war zones, such as Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, or whether more UN resolutions are needed. Regarding the crisis in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Fajon said that Slovenia supports the efforts of the current presiding country, North Macedonia, in this regard. The chief diplomat confirmed that Slovenia supports Estonia’s candidacy for the OSCE presidency – which was blocked by Russia. However, an Austrian presidency would also be supported if the working group currently meeting under the North Macedonian presidency decided to do so.
(The interview was conducted by Stefan Vospernik/APA)