Freedom of the press: disagreement between the Slovenian Prime Minister and the European Union Parliament, Jansa leaves the meeting – Europarlamento

Brussels – The months-long standoff between Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and the media is reaching the European Parliament. Jansa left the Eurochamber Democracy Watch Group working session devoted to the human rights situation in his country, accusing MEPs of wanting. Censoring a video he had prepared.

Jansa, via the video link, repeatedly asked the head of the group, Renew MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld, to broadcast the video, claiming that she had sent it more than three hours before the session began. The reconstruction was not confirmed by the president, according to which the video of the dispute could not arrive until shortly before the start of the discussion.

‘Some kind of ambush’, Named it t Veld, which, however, assured that the materials would be registered and made available to members of the European Parliament. But Jansa first threatened to leave the session if the video was not shown, and then went from threats to facts. Slovenian Culture Minister Vasco Simonetti also withdrew from the debate.

“We are in a parliamentary committee and not in the cinema.” A member of the European Parliament for the Green Party, Sergei Lagudinsky, protested, describing Jansa’s position as a “shame” for a country preparing to lead the EU presidency for a period of six months. “Europe is not opposed to the Slovenian government, nor is the group a forum, but a place for exchange of views,” said President Te Field, who rejected Jansa’s accusations of censorship.

The Slovenian Prime Minister “intends to share the visual material” with the European Parliament’s Democracy Watch Group, which consists of “three videos that arrived shortly before the start of the meeting, and some of them during the meeting,” according to a statement issued by the Parliament working group.

“But Jansa – she reads the memo – insisted that the videos be shown immediately.”

“We are still open to A.Another opportunity for dialogueHe concludes the memorandum, hoping that “the Slovenian authorities are ready for an open and constructive discussion”.

For Katarina Barley, PSE MEP and EP Working Group Member, “lo The systematic dismantling of media freedom On Jansa’s side, his insults to journalists, in addition to his inability to confront democratic domination, are of great concern and do not bode well for the Slovenian presidency (for the European Union semester, ed) that is about to begin. “

“The prime minister’s brief appearance today left us with more questions than answers.”European Parliament member of the European Parliament, Elena Jonasheva, member of the working group of the European Parliament, commented. “We heard disturbing stories from media representatives and the human rights ombudsman who underscored some of our concerns about the state of media freedom in Slovenia,” Yoncheva continues, urging contemplation of the next steps “as an institution to prevent further setbacks in media freedom.”