Aleksandar Isajevič Solženjicin passed away yesterday night. One of the few remaining critical Russian intellectuals has often been described as embodiment of 'a moral consciousness of Russia'. What follows is the section from his Nobel Lecture in 1970, which responds perfectly to challenges of our contemporary world.
 
'But today, between the writers of one country and the writers and readers of another, there is a reciprocity if not instantaneous then almost so. I experience this with myself. Those of my books which, alas, have not been printed in my own country have soon found a responsive, worldwide audience, despite hurried and often bad translations. Such distinguished western writers as Heinrich Böll have undertaken critical analysis of them. All these last years, when my work and freedom have not come crashing down, when contrary to the laws of gravity they have hung suspended as though on air, as though on NOTHING - on the invisible dumb tension of a sympathetic public membrane; then it was with grateful warmth, and quite unexpectedly for myself, that I learnt of the further support of the international brotherhood of writers. On my fiftieth birthday I was astonished to receive congratulations from well-known western writers. No pressure on me came to pass by unnoticed. During my dangerous weeks of exclusion from the Writers' Union the WALL OF DEFENCE advanced by the world's prominent writers protected me from worse persecutions; and Norwegian writers and artists hospitably prepared a roof for me, in the event of my threatened exile being put into effect. Finally even the advancement of my name for the Nobel Prize was raised not in the country where I live and write, but by Francois Mauriac and his colleagues. And later still entire national writers' unions have expressed their support for me.

Thus I have understood and felt that world literature is no longer an abstract anthology, nor a generalization invented by literary historians; it is rather a certain common body and a common spirit, a living heartfelt unity reflecting the growing unity of mankind. State frontiers still turn crimson, heated by electric wire and bursts of machine fire; and various ministries of internal affairs still think that literature too is an "internal affair" falling under their jurisdiction; newspaper headlines still display: "No right to interfere in our internal affairs!" Whereas there are no INTERNAL AFFAIRS left on our crowded Earth! And mankind's sole salvation lies in everyone making everything his business; in the people of the East being vitally concerned with what is thought in the West, the people of the West vitally concerned with what goes on in the East. And literature, as one of the most sensitive, responsive instruments possessed by the human creature, has been one of the first to adopt, to assimilate, to catch hold of this feeling of a growing unity of mankind. And so I turn with confidence to the world literature of today - to hundreds of friends whom I have never met in the flesh and whom I may never see.

Friends! Let us try to help if we are worth anything at all! Who from time immemorial has constituted the uniting, not the dividing, strength in your countries, lacerated by discordant parties, movements, castes and groups? There in its essence is the position of writers: expressers of their native language - the chief binding force of the nation, of the very earth its people occupy, and at best of its national spirit.

I believe that world literature has it in its power to help mankind, in these its troubled hours, to see itself as it really is, notwithstanding the indoctrinations of prejudiced people and parties. World literature has it in its power to convey condensed experience from one land to another so that we might cease to be split and dazzled, that the different scales of values might be made to agree, and one nation learn correctly and concisely the true history of another with such strength of recognition and painful awareness as it had itself experienced the same, and thus might it be spared from repeating the same cruel mistakes. And perhaps under such conditions we artists will be able to cultivate within ourselves a field of vision to embrace the WHOLE WORLD: in the centre observing like any other human being that which lies nearby, at the edges we shall begin to draw in that which is happening in the rest of the world. And we shall correlate, and we shall observe world proportions.

And who, if not writers, are to pass judgement - not only on their unsuccessful governments, (in some states this is the easiest way to earn one's bread, the occupation of any man who is not lazy), but also on the people themselves, in their cowardly humiliation or self-satisfed weakness? Who is to pass judgement on the light-weight sprints of youth, and on the young pirates brandishing their knives?

We shall be told: what can literature possibly do against the ruthless onslaught of open violence? But let us not forget that violence does not live alone and is not capable of living alone: it is necessarily interwoven with falsehood. Between them lies the most intimate, the deepest of natural bonds. Violence finds its only refuge in falsehood, falsehood its only support in violence. Any man who has once acclaimed violence as his METHOD must inexorably choose falsehood as his PRINCIPLE. At its birth violence acts openly and even with pride. But no sooner does it become strong, firmly established, than it senses the rarefaction of the air around it and it cannot continue to exist without descending into a fog of lies, clothing them in sweet talk. It does not always, not necessarily, openly throttle the throat, more often it demands from its subjects only an oath of allegiance to falsehood, only complicity in falsehood.

And the simple step of a simple courageous man is not to partake in falsehood, not to support false actions! Let THAT enter the world, let it even reign in the world - but not with my help. But writers and artists can achieve more: they can CONQUER FALSEHOOD! In the struggle with falsehood art always did win and it always does win! Openly, irrefutably for everyone! Falsehood can hold out against much in this world, but not against art.

And no sooner will falsehood be dispersed than the nakedness of violence will be revealed in all its ugliness - and violence, decrepit, will fall.

That is why, my friends, I believe that we are able to help the world in its white-hot hour. Not by making the excuse of possessing no weapons, and not by giving ourselves over to a frivolous life - but by going to war!

Proverbs about truth are well-loved in Russian. They give steady and sometimes striking expression to the not inconsiderable harsh national experience:

ONE WORD OF TRUTH SHALL OUTWEIGH THE WHOLE WORLD.

And it is here, on an imaginary fantasy, a breach of the principle of the conservation of mass and energy, that I base both my own activity and my appeal to the writers of the whole world.'
 
From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1968-1980, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Sture Allén, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1993

Dejstev - tisto, kar se je zgodilo, se ocitno ne da skriti. Vselej priplava vsaj nekaj na dan, kar doda majhen kamencek v koncni mozaik resnice.

Prav je, da vemo, kdo smo in kaj smo.

V družbeni konstrukciji slovenske realnosti so bili v preteklosti pa vse do dandanes pravi obrazi nekterih skrbno prikriti.

RTV Slovenija je v svojem sredinem prispevku vsaj malo odškrknila vrata in nekateri imajo možnost pogledati se v ogledalo.

Uživajte: http://www.rtvslo.si/play/dokumenti-komunisti-vodili-urednisko-politiko/ava2.17869296/

One of the high-flying aspirations in the wake of Slovenian independence and the expected thorough democratization of its public space, was a construction of a healthy pluralist society. I must admit I was on the side of those who believed that this can be achieved by law, in particular by constitutional law. In that regard, most of our hopes have been dedicated to constitutional adjudication and/of key constitutional principles and freedoms, specifically freedom of speech. 

Now, a little less than 10 years later, we have hit the ground of a crude reality. Apparently wrong means have been identified for otherwise  praiseworthy objectives. Pluralism can not be gained through law, not even through its superior pronunciation: constitution. If in social terms - in terms of existing social capital of a particular community there is simply not enough human resources to carry pluralism through, a political system will not be pluralist, it will not be sound and not genuinely democratic.

The experiences with the currently outgoing political establishment in Slovenia have truly been rewarding. Whatever judgment of its performance one might hold, something is indisputable. Existence of a first non-continuity government after 60 or so years, revealed the depth and breadth of socio-political pathologies of the Slovenian polity. The veil of deception, like in temple, has been cut in half and everybody was compelled to show his/her real face.

The result: a stunning world-view hegemony of civil-society elites, shallowness if not straightforward emptiness of those who should preserved the rule of recognition; Gleichschaltung of the journalist class and an overall economic monopoly of the nouvelle post-communist richesse.

In such a social situation law can be of little use - and neither can be, and increasingly less, reason. 

This is a disquieting conclusion in all its might, I know. But it is a fact. We have to come to terms with it - to see where this deeply structural democratic - or even worse: social decency deficit - can be grabbed for the purposes of its healthier reconstruction.

The latter can, doubtlessly, be done - the question remains whether still during our own epoch.

Is it worth our energy? This is a question that anyone, including you, should answer for herself.

The otherwise rather steady and tranquil Slovenian political quotidian has lately been perturbed by a judicial unrest. The justices in black robes decided to call a strike, properly so called. The judicial chambers will close down, the files will be kept shut and all the plaintiffs and defendants will have to stay home. Reason: the wages are too low. The judges want to be on a level playing field with the MPs. The Constitutional Court ruled so and so be it, or paret mundus.

In reality, the situation is indeed worth of a grave concern. Behind these rather tiny skirmishes about money there is a real and very dark world of Slovenian justice that has long been entangled in a vicious circle, without anyone, or so it seems, having noticed that. What is it that I have in mind?

1st: the courts and the carriers of a judicial function have lost all reputation and trust in the eyes of the ordinary people in the last 15 years. We are drowning in judicial delays, case-load keeps piling up and ordinary people have felt that on their skin. If one has to wait 5, 10 or even more years for a justice to be done, anything else is hardly to expect.

2nd: the judges are badly if not even miserably payed. This has led to a brain drain and the best minds fled into private practice. Those who have stayed work in a hostile environment - disrespected by the people - with loads of fat cases.

3rd: government wants to see more work done. It is willing to pay more for it, but only those judges who would contribute more. However, solidarity among judges works against this. They ALL want a better pay and oppose additional payment as a motivation for more work. Market rationale has no domicile in courts, they claim. Hence, we have a clash between the government and the judges.

This means that all fronts are open: judges are unhappy with the working conditions, government is dissatisfied with their output and the citizens are upset with both of them. It is difficult to see where this vicious circle could be cut up. What is clear, a justice on strike is not a right way to proceed. It will make things only worse.

US President G.W. Bush recently visited Slovenia for the second time. In his own words, "It's interesting, my first visit as U.S. president to Europe included a — my first stop in Slovenia. My last visit as U.S. president to Europe includes first stop in Slovenia. It's a fitting circle."

Regardless of what one thinks of his polices, it is interesting to observe that he already in 2001 invented probably catchier phrase to describe uniqueness of Slovenia than any so far invented by Slovenian Tourist Board. He notedat that time that Slovenia is like a slice of heaven. This time around he slightly modified his phrase to Slovenia as “a big slice of heaven”. It appears that it would be a good idea for Slovenian Tourist Board to follow up on such catchy phrase. Admittedly, such phrase may seem amusing to some US TV presenters (See J. Stewart’s Daily Show) , but it undoubtedly catches people’s attention.

Our friend, Fozia Lone, writes about a case of Kashmiri student maltreated in Tihar jail in India.

Subject: Urgent Action, Innocent Kashmiri Student Muhammad Rafiq Shah, ill-treated in Tihar jail  

I would like to bring to you attention the plight of the innocent Kashmiri student who was perusing his postgraduate studies at the University of Kashmir before he was arrested on 29 October 2005 for carrying out blasts on the eve of Diwali in New Delhi.  As per the press report published in the Daily Greater Kashmir he is languishing in jail from last three years without any trial.  In his open letter from the Tihar jail, Muhammad Rafiq Shah explains that ‘I am innocent and falsely implicated in the case by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in collaboration with Special Task Force of Kashmir Police’.  This statement was previously corroborated by the then Delhi Police chief, KK Paul as well as the then vice-chancellor of Kashmir University, Professor Abdul Wahid Qureshi.  

According to the press report published in Daily Greater Kashmir on 23 March 2008, vice-chancellor had testified that ‘Rafiq was in the Islamic Studies department on the day of Delhi blasts’. As a matter of fact in 2006, five persons were produced UP Police in which they accepted that they were behind the Delhi blasts. The letter that Rafiq wrote from the Tihar Jail explains how his dignity was dishonoured by the Delhi Police when he was forced to: drink urine, suck the private parts of co-accused and share a single cell with pig to offend his religious sentiments. (See http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=23_3_2008&ItemID=34&cat=1)

The whole Kashmiri community has expressed their concern about the maltreatment of the Kashmiri student and similar acts the Government of India is involved in.  This case is the representative of the several cases where Kashmiri people were falsely implicated in the various parts of India and persecuted.  Such inhuman activities are not only against the international human rights law but also against the declared policy of zero tolerance by India in human rights cases concerning Kashmir.

I will be grateful if the concerned organisations in the respective countries could bring this matter to the attention of the respective States and diplomatically pressurise the Government of India to investigate this matter which could facilitate the release of Rafiq who is innocent.  I would be grateful if all in their individual capacity could spread this message so that the human life could be saved from further torture.  It must be recalled that India is a member of the civilised international community and a party to various human rights covenants she has an utmost obligation to stop any kind of human rights abuse within her country.  I will be obliged for considering this letter as an expression of my genuine complaint and would appreciate an urgent action on this issue.

Yours Sincerely,

Fozia Lone

Arguably, the most prolific Basque writer to date, Bernando Atxaga, has now an excellent personal website. His novel "the Accordionist's Son" on idiotcracy of eternal squabbles between right and left spheres of every society (in his case Basque-Spanish society) is now available also in English translation. Atxaga has won the 2008 Grinzane Cavour prize for this novel. Here is the summary of book in Basque:

"Liburu honek Bernardo Atxagaren aurreko guztiak hartzen ditu bere baitan. Irakurleek lehendik ere ezagunak zaizkien pertsonaiak eta gaiak aurkituko dituzte orrialde hauetan, eta, tarteka, Obabakoak edo Gizona bere bakardadean bezalako liburuen barruan sentituko dira. Aldi berean, ordea, berria egingo zaie dena: mundu zabalagoa eta sakonagoa aurkituko dute, giza esperientziari estutik lotzen zaiona. Bernardo Atxagak berak elkarrizketa batean adierazi zuen bezala: "Orain arteko guztia sartu nahi dut liburu batean, eta nire idazle bizitzako atal bat itxi berriro hutsetik hasteko. Horrez gain, jakin-mina daukat, noraino iritsi ote naitekeen lehengo bideetatik, zer-nolako obra idatz dezakedan".

The Law Section of the Organising Committee of College of Arts & Social Sciences Postgraduate Conference, at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland invites graduate students undertaking legal research to submit abstracts for consideration. The Conference will take place over two days (11-12 June) in the beautiful surroundings of King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Scotland. The aim of the Conference is to give graduate students in law from across Scotland, the United Kingdom, Europe and the world the opportunity to present papers reflecting excellence in legal research. This event aims to bring together postgraduate, in particular research students with an interest in all aspects of legal research, but particularly those with a comparative, European, international or interdisciplinary perspective.  Our goal is to encourage all areas of legal research at the conference.  You are invited to be an active participant in the symposium by presenting a piece of your own work to an audience of other PhD students, academics and interested members of the public. This will give you the valuable opportunity to practice talking about your own work alongside others at similar stages in their academic careers. “Moving forward”, the theme of the conference, is designed to allow as many people as possible to discuss recent developments in law.

The Netherlands has been often criticised for a shameful role of its soldiers in the UN peacekeeping force during the genocide of 7,000 Bosnian men and boys in Srebrenica. However, the Dutch government took a tiny but an important step last week in direction of correcting dark past of its military forces. On Wednesday, the Dutch foreign minister noted in a meeting with the foreign minister of Slovenia, who holds EU presidency, that the Netherlands will block the EU Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia until crimes against humanity and war crimes suspect Gen. Mladič is arrested. He told the reporters that "if Serbia really wants a European future, they must also cooperate with the handing over of one of the persons who is responsible for the only genocide in the European continent after the second World War". One would wish that also Slovenia as presiding country of the European Union would join Dutch and Belgian stance.

 

Londonski tednik The Economist objavlja v zadnji stevilki izcrpno analizo koncepta druzbene odgovornosti podjetij. Priloga je brezplacno dostopna na spletni strani omenjenega tednika.

„Wir leben in einer Zeit des wilden Kapitalismus", sagte Jancar im Gespräch mit der F.A.Z., „die Jungen wollen Jobs, Wohnungen, Prestige und Erfolg, und die wollen sich dabei nicht stören lassen. Niemand leugnet mehr, was in diesem Land einmal geschehen ist, aber man überlässt das den Historikern. Es ist einfach, zu sagen, dass wir einmal Faschisten und Antifaschisten hatten und dass das jetzt vorbei ist. Aber die Geschichte war leider viel komplizierter, schon vor 1945 und erst recht danach." Richter, die einst politische Urteile fällten, sind immer noch im Amt, und dieselben Journalisten, die ihnen Beifall pflichteten, schreiben heute noch Leitartikel. Dieselben Leute, die früher Marxismus und Jugoslawismus verordneten, geben jetzt Lektionen in Liberalismus und Parlamentarismus, in Aktienrecht, Pressefreiheit und Bürgersinn. Das Establishment ist nicht abgetreten, es hat sich neu eingekleidet. Zwar ist eine konservative Regierung an der Macht, aber die gesellschaftliche Hegemonie behaupten die alten Seilschaften.

Dies wiederum fördert die Verbiesterung ihrer Gegner. Liberale gegen Klerikale, Linke gegen Rechte, Partisanen gegen Domobranzen (Heimwehren): Slowenien ist immer noch das „Zerrissene Volk", wie die slowenische Historikerin Tamara Griesser-Pecar ihr Buch über Okkupation, Kollaboration, Bürgerkrieg und Revolution in den Jahren 1941 bis 1946 nannte. Er habe diese Debatten satt, die immer wieder bei den Partisanen und den Domobranzen endeten, sagt Jancar, ob nun über den Verkehr in Laibach diskutiert werde oder über Windmühlen an der Küste. Slowenien sei zugleich eine sehr offene und eine sehr geschlossene Gesellschaft. „Jeder weiß vom anderen, was dessen Vater und dessen Großvater getan hat, das geht über Generationen und reicht bis in die aktuellen politischen Debatten. Das ist typisch für kleine Länder, in Irland ist das ähnlich. Aber diese Atmosphäre tut dem Land nicht gut."

Am Anfang ist der Schutt, FAZ, 23. December 2007

Well, it has been high time to disprove those who have, in a disappointment, visited our Blog and to their amazement were still greeted in Christmas mood. It is not that we are still partying or taking it off that the Best Wishes post is still on the top of the Blog, it is simply that the spill-over in 2008 was so rapid that we have not since found any time to drop a line or two. Let's start in 2008, then!

Our first post is dedicated to the Slovenian EU Presidency. Fourteen days have passed now and things are already unrolling. If leave aside the weary priorities and the forthcoming challenges of the Presidency, it is more interesting to observe one interesting phenomenon that has been painted by European media in the last days.

They have been constructing a story following which there is a tension between Slovenia and France as the next in a row. France is said to be deliberately downplaying Slovenian efforts, perhaps even demeaningly, stealing it the necessary and usually accompanying limelight.  See: http://euobserver.com/9/25452

There must be apparently a pinch of salt in that, since Slovenian Prime Minister in his yesterday's speech in the EP, suggested that maybe indeed our Presidency will not be so prominent and flamboyant, but that we are still not competing with anyone. Slovenia is committed to the EU project as a whole.

However, another news this morning strikes in: Slovenia criticizes French Mediterranean Union proposal. See:http://euobserver.com/9/25470/?rk=1

The Question is: how many of these tensions are real, how much are they inflated by the media, and if they are real or not how the either case can be explained? 

Dragi bralci in nakljucni obiskovalci nasega bloga: ob prihajajocih praznikih vam zelimo veliko osebnega miru in zadovoljstva, drzavljanskega ponosa in zanosa ter vse najboljse v letu 2008.

Dear friends of Globalawanadpolitics: We wish you all the best for the Festive Season and a courageous New Year 2008. 



(courtesy of www.bled.si)

There are a couple of recurring issues in Slovenian public life along with several figures that emerge periodically to give them a new and fresh spin. Usually this happens just before general elections and it seems that this time we shall see no exception.

The especially prominent and always dazzling role has been played by the Hribar couple: The Moral Authority Wife and the Philosopher Husband. In the last fifteen or so years this honorable couple has committed that many personal political upheavals that it is just impossible to recall and even less name them all. 

The Moral Authority was first the ideological forerunner of the Slovenian spring but has turned against them and cried: Wolf, Wolf, or rather: Halt the Political Right. It was halted indeed for 12 years. Then the Philosopher stepped in and delivered his damning verdict blaming the left of the Vulgo or, even more obscenely, of Vulvo liberalism. The left lost for the first time in the independent Slovenia and the political Spring very much cleaned of the old guys took the floor. 

Yet, now the time has come for another salto mortale. The Philosopher has just announced a new political judgment. In the leading Slovenian newspaper - in its widely read and influential Saturday Issue - he literally debunked, also on a personal note, the Prime Minister and the government as such. His diagnosis of the government's work is through and through fatal - actually so deplorable that the Philosopher spent long sentences excusing himself for the support he had initially awarded the government with. But he has been, as all the voters indeed, betrayed. For the best, if truly inconceivable, comes at the end: the alleged final aim of the present government is to reinstate Slovenia as a Catholic State. The circle is now complete.  

And here we are back in the future. Again the time has come to scare the moderate voters, the political middle, by the Evil of Catholicism and its proponent the cross-waving Church. Were this not Slovenia, I could not believe that it is almost 2008. I truly do not and can not understand how philosophers and moral authorities just do not see that their virtuous enterprise constantly trumps the feelings of those who belong to Catholic faith and who have all and equal rights to be full citizens of the Slovenian polity.

Moreover, I would imagine to myself, at least that much I have learned so far, that morality and philosophy are about identifying principles to which one SHOULD stick. It can not be that any elections and even shorter term benefits of certain political caste, be it left or right, merits abandoning causes about which we should feel and care deeply.  Or perhaps morality and philosophy ceased to be what they used to be and should be.

There is something terribly wrong... in Slovenia, I am afraid. In the public spirit and in the collective conscious and subconscious. It has never been cleared of poison that has been accumulating in its veins from 1848 on and culminated in a complete collapse of its immunity system in the 1945. Therefore the positions are skewed and volatile, prone to shift from day to day.

However, there are still some, I believe, whose eyes remain open and capable of looking and, indeed, seeing... Those remain genuine moral, if perhaps not, philosophical authorities.





 

Respect for freedom of press lies at the heart of every modern democratic society. In the last months discussion on freedom of press in Slovenia has been manipulated by former totalitarian political parties, oligarchic corporate groups, and their journalistic voices in the Slovenian media. In doing so, they have constructed media reality, which does not correspond to what is actually happening in the Slovenian society. Last example includes political take-over of the weekly magazine Mag, the only remaining independent political weekly in Slovenia. We will talk about situation in the Slovenian media more in the forthcoming months. For now, Globalawandpolitics publishes a public protest statement by journalist magazine Mag, which is worth reading:

 

Public statement by journalists of magazine Mag

"We, Mag journalists, protest against the deliberate political take-over of the weekly magazine at which we are employed. The magazine Mag, which has been published since 1995, was created as a response to media single-mindedness; in it were presented alternative points of view, which could not be expressed in other media. During the period of Slovenia's accession to Euro-Atlantic alliances, Mag decisively advocated membership of both the EU and NATO. The candidate for new responsible editor, Veso Stojanov, opposed NATO in his articles, in addition to which he comes from a different circle of thought than present Mag readers. Although the weekly Mag has changed owners or publishers three times since its founding, its editorial policy has not been changed. The newspaper house Salomon 2000, which bought Mag from the company Interdat, was even proud that it could publish a weekly with politically relevant contents and opinions. The then management of Delo, under the leadership of Tomaž Perovič, also had a similar position at the time of buying the magazine. It did not revoke Mag's right to autonomy and the expression of various political positions. Under the present owner, sales of Mag have increased by approximately half. The highest growth has been marked precisely in the period since Silvester Šurla took over the editorship. Sales of recent numbers have exceeded 14,000 copies, which in view of conditions on the market for political magazines, is an exceptional success. This clearly did not persuade the members of the Delo supervisory board to confirm as responsible editor of Mag an editor who had already proved to be successful.

In fact, they initially offered this position to him, but deferred the appointment when he submitted his programme. Meanwhile, the president of the supervisory board, Andrijana Starina Kosem, and vice-president, Stojan Zdolšek, exercised politically motivated pressure on him, commented on several contributions and interviews and demanded a different political content. In particular, they were upset by articles on dubious managerial buy-outs of companies, about about-turns in the SOVA affair, interviews with president of LDS Katarina Kresal and Koper mayor Boris Popovič, and questions a journalist posed to Izola mayor Tomislav Klokočovnik prior to the an interview and then demanded that the interview deal with them. Starina Kosem told Šurla that 'tycoons' are good for Slovenia and that in Mag they should blame the prime minister, Janez Janša, most for inflation and not the Mercator chain of shops. She even demanded that we write articles critical of the Janša government. Andrijana Starina Kosem and Stojan Zdolšek thus wanted to exploit the magazine Mag for their own political and business interests, as well as the interests of Pivovarna Laško, which wished to take over the largest shopping chain, Mercator. In September, in fact, they had asked Šurla to write an article in Mag on how Pivovarna Laško does not abuse its monopoly on the Slovene drinks market, although some distinguished economists believe otherwise. Šurla of course resisted all these pressures, since it was a matter of interference by the supervisory board in the editorial autonomy of Mag.

The last straw was an interview in Mag with Prime Minister Janez Janša, which had a wide public response, in which he apportioned most blame for the disputed sale of Mercator to the president of the supervisory board of Delo, Andrijana Starina Kosem, who at that time had been his state secretary and president of the supervisory board of KAD (Capital Investment Fund). On the very day that the aforementioned interview was published, the supervisory board held an extraordinary session and published a public call for applications for a new responsible editor of Mag. The call for applications was a farce, since it was known in advance that it was punishment of the editorial staff because it had resisted the pressures, and that a candidate would be chosen who would fulfil the wishes of the supervisory board. When Šurla drew public attention to the politically motivated pressures that Kosem and Zdolšek had exerted on him, he was told that he was already out of the running. It is also of interest that the selected candidate as new responsible editor of Mag, Veso Stojanov, is even himself a member of the supervisory board, since he represents the employees on it. There is therefore no doubt that he would know what kind of content the supervisors wish in the new Mag and what kind would no longer be allowed to appear in the magazine. Stojanov has already announced in some media a change in editorial policy, which is supposed to be harmonised with the owners, and similarly a strengthening of staff, about which the Delo publishing house had previously been unwilling to listen.

It is therefore clear that the editorial changes at Mag are above all a political take-over of the magazine or, in view of the already published opinions of the future responsible editor, even a revolutionary take-over. As journalists on Mag, we appeal to the Slovene public, representatives of the state and civil society to support us in the struggle against the political and capital destruction of the weekly magazine. The forced diametrically opposed editorial policy will destroy the most important part of what Mag has represented ever since its foundation: a different view of conditions in society from the prevailing one in the Slovene media. Journalists of Mag also have the right to free expression under the Law, Constitution and international conventions, and our faithful readers have the right to an independent weekly magazine."

Igor Kršinar, representative of the journalists of Mag,
Brigite Ferlič Žgajnar, Nenad Glücks, Biserka Karneža Cerjak, Silvester Šurla

The representatives of all three EU's main institutions proclaimed today (12 December) the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Charter was signed at gathering in the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament (EP) by EP President Hans-Gert Poettering, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and the current head of the Council of EU member states, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.  The text of the Charter of fundamental rights includes six categories of rights for all EU citizens and residents - dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizens' rights and justice. The Charter will be attached as a separate declaration to the new treaty that EU leaders will sign in Lisbon tomorrow (13 December) and will be legally binding upon the Member States as soon as the treaty itself enters into force. If the Reform Treaty of Lisbon becomes binding upon Member States, then applicants could explicitly invoke Charter's provisions before the Court of First Instance and European Court of Justice.