To The Taste Of The Right

The recently published research of the opinions, prejudices and political orientation of Slovene high school students indubitably shows that the young Slovenes have made a sharp turnabout towards authoritarian and non liberal values.

The research project was headed by Vlado Niheljak and Mirjana Ule, who were assisted by students of the Ljubljana College of Social Sciences; 2,310 high school students in 12 Slovene regions were polled and asked to respond to 376 questions.

In reply to the question: ``Should capital punishment remain for the gravest crimes against the state (for instance, high treason)?,'' as much as 28.7% of the high school students gave a positive answer, 36.2% a negative answer and 35.1% said ``I don't know.'' The statement: ``The Slovene state has granted citizenship to foreigners much too easily'' has yielded 60.8% positive answers, 18.3% negative answers, while 20.9% of the polled students did not know the answer to this difficult question. Resistance to multi culture is explicit as much as 47.3% said they ``would prefer if only Slovenes lived in Slovenia.'' Merely 28.2% disagreed (24.5% abstained), saying that they ``have always been attracted by contacts with foreigners, people of other nationalities, religion and culture,'' while 27.5% opposed this stand, and 20.3% refrained from expounding on it. In that respect, the most drastic scale is the one concerning repulsion on an ethnic basis, which the researchers of the Social Psychology Center expanded by including some minority groups (for instance, homosexuals, invalids, the mentally ill, members of ``foreign religions,'' Gypsies, Jews, AIDS victims, etc). In short, young Slovenes would like to have official, personal and intimate contacts only with Germans, Italians and Catholics. Serbs were practically the last on the list: 26.8% of the Slovenes do not want any contact with Blacks, 36.9% with Jews. 35.9% with Croats, 44.7% with Moslems, 44.9% with the retarded, 51% with refugees, 54% with immigrants from the South, 56.1% of young Slovenes are horrified of contact with AIDS victims, 60.1% of contact with Gypsies, 66.1% of dealing with homosexuals (62.9% of dealing with lesbians), while 62.4% would not dream of contacts with Serbs. Only 15.3% of the polled students said they would agree to official contacts with Serbs, 14.7% would stand personal contacts, while barely 7.6% would have intimate contact with them. Therefore, together with homosexuals, lesbians, AIDS victims, the mentally retarded and immigrants from the South, Serbs rank among those with whom the Slovene youth do not want to have anything to do with. The fact that those traditionally targetted by the rightists Jews, Gypsies and invalids have not fared much better is not much of a consolation to the newly founded state of Slovenia.

The results of the opinion poll differ significantly from similar surveys conducted by Mirjana Ule in mid 1986 and the ``Slovene Public Opinion Poll'' conducted in 1992 by the Center for the Research of Public Opinion and Mass Media. Those results had shown promise of a much more tolerant climate in Slovenia.

There is no need to underline that such tectonic alterations in the public opinion of young Slovenes completely obliterate the picture of Slovenia at the time of the former Yugoslavia. Practically nothing remains of the tolerant, open young generation, which had rejected authoritarianism, urged the abolition of capital punishment, protested against the persecution of those thinking differently, destroyed the Tito personality cult, called for the equality of those with different sexual affinities, demanded civilian military service and opposed the militarisation of society. NEWSWEEK had at that time, in 1987, written of Slovenia as the ``island of freedom'' in the Eastern European camp. It would undoubtedly be more cautious in ascribing it such attributes today.

Without doubt, changes in the value scale of young Slovenes are enormous and their aspirations are ``time bombs'' waiting for someone to press the button.

Although it is difficult to analyse the reasons for this major change in Slovenia's social climate, it is clear that the crucial role was played in the June 1991 clashes with the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the brutality of the wars waged in the former common state. The JNA intervention in Slovenia and the continued armed clashes in Yugoslavia had inflicted the greatest harm on the advocates of peaceful solution, liberal minority leaders and political parties, while the ``hawks'' in the Slovene right had become stronger. Proof of this is the fate of the once extremely strong Slovene Peace Movement, which practically fell apart during the skirmishes with the JNA in 1991. The Peace Movement's grand project ``Slovenia without an Army'' had been supported by eminent political parties in 1990 and the most prominent politicians at the time (President of the Slovenian Presidency Milan Kucan and Presidency members Ciril Zlobec and Dusan Plut) had urged the gradual demilitarisation of Slovenia. In 1990, as much as 53.5% of the citizens interviewed by the ``Slovene Public Opinion Poll'' gave an affirmative answer to the question whether a referendum on dissolving the JNA should be held. Only ten days later, there was enough shooting in Slovenia to change this picture. When clashes broke out in Slovenia, leader of the Slovene Peace Movement Marko Hren wrote ``... both sides are accountable for this outcome, although this does not absolve the JNA of its responsibility for aggression,'' and the Slovene side was ``co responsible for each future step.'' The statement caused dissension in the 12 member leadership of the Movement, and the Peace Movement finally dissolved itself in September of 1992.

Despite military actions on Slovene territory, the wave of refugees and other ``external reasons,'' one should not underestimate the internal reasons which crucially affected the change in Slovenia's social climate. It is not difficult to notice today that a large part of the Slovene public had in the recent past been critical of state institutions it was actually criticising Yugoslav, not Slovene authorities. This phenomenon simply disappeared with the establishment of a national Slovene army. More precisely, although civilian military service is now allowed and legally regulated in Slovenia, only three recruits have opted for it. There are also examples which corroborate the impression that the former Slovene insistence on certain issues was not so much a matter of principle, but was ``anti Yugoslav'' in character.

If it is true that the nationalist clashes, the consequences of ethnic cleansing and wars in the former Yugoslavia are slowly resurrecting Europe of the thirties in Central Europe, then this truth applies to Slovenia the most. ``Had Hitler granted Slovenes statehood, they, too, might have been bogged down in Fascism, although contrary to Croats and their Jasenovac their Fascism would have had ``a human image,'' '' this ironic statemen of the changes in Slovenia's social climate was made by Ljubljana daily ``Delo'' commentator Boris Jez. The spirit of the thirties, xenophobia and intolerance can be recognised in Slovenia by some other symptoms as well. Slovene Territorial Defence troops have been entering apartments of former JNA officers without warrants and throwing them out of homes appropriated by the Territorial Defence with the courts' assistance. Those former JNA officers holding a tenant's right of tenure, whom the Defence Ministry considers ``unfit,'' cannot buy their apartments despite protests made by Minister of Environment Miha Jazbinsek. Defence Minister Janez Jansa has been openly interfering in the work of the legislature, taking over the investigative authorities' competences and getting away with interpreting laws to suit himself. Refugees are still predominantly living in former barracks, their trips to the nearby cities are limited, although this is contrary to international conventions...

In effect, the ``Serbian Syndrome'' is more and more explicit in Slovenia: the media, spearheaded by the Slovene state TV and Radio, carry overheated, frequently even racist statements of many politicians without any restrictions, while the judiciary punishes Slovenes who have physically attacked foreigners with fines, and low ones at that. It is interesting that the results of the opinion poll of young Slovenes confirm the media's effect on their convictions. The degree of intolerance and amount of time spent watching TV (ie, reading newspapers) are in a direct negative correlation.

The attitude in Slovenia on anything reminding it of the former or current Yugoslavia is a story in itself. Although the current ``so called Yugoslavia'' has practically forgotten Slovenia, it plays the leading role of ``foreign enemy'' in Slovenia with the sole aim of flaring nationalist passions. For instance, six Slovene politicians returned their state medals to Milan Kucan in a shoe box to underscore the danger Slovenia faced from some individuals ``linked to Yugoslavia economically, by blood, etc.'' Newspapers have simultaneously been carrying major public opinion polls ``of plans of certain (?) world power wielders'' to drag Slovenia into some kind of Yugoslavia against its will. Slovene writers, of course, have immediately sprung to their feet, protesting against such attempts. Anything Yugoslav is interpreted in Slovenia as Serbian and, thus, anything Serbian is without doubt absolutely suspicious.

And then, to top it all, the Serbian Military Tribune sentenced two Slovene citizens to severe prison terms for ``surrendering to the enemy'' (former JNA officers who went over to the Slovene Territorial Defence); this was the main spring for Mladina's pamphleteer to emulate the style of his colleagues on Serbian state TV and to urge, in the name of ``state interests,'' that all Serbian and Montenegrin pensioners who travel to Slovenia to draw their pensions, be denied their pensions ``according to the principle of reciprocity.''

Except for the unsolved attack on Moslems in Prevalja, no other attacks against foreigners or refugees have been registered in Slovenia, although there are officially 58,000 and unofficially around 70,000. The balance is maintained by the rational and composed comments of prominent Slovene politicians and journalists. Also, despite the growing number of unemployed and angry workers, the social situation is more or less stable. The media are free, the Law on Privatisation has been passed including a new Health Insurance Law, monthly inflation equals Serbia's hourly inflation, the national currency the tolar is steady. Although the major crossings on the Slovene Austria borders built to withstand much greater traffic are half empty, and the tourists stayed away from Bled Lake and the seaside resort of Portoroz again this year, Slovenia is slowly making headway and catching up with Western countries.