Slovenia: investigation against far-right militia
After a video of an armed militia was posted on social networks Slovenian police have arrested the former presidential candidate Andrej Šiško. The leader of the far-right movement United Slovenia was clearly identifiable as the leader of the troop on the video. How seriously should Slovenia take this incident?
Far-right rebel inciting hatred and violence
Večer sees the founding of the paramilitary group as a dangerous symptom of the radicalisation of society:
“At a time when extremism is spreading and in a crazy world where security can no longer be taken for granted, those who simply shrugged indifferently at the mention of the name Šiško must now be coming to their senses. He was the one standing in front of the group pretending to be an army - although tomorrow it could of course be someone else. And even if the public prosecutors don't classify the training exercise as a crime and the start of a coup, this little show of Šiško's is an incitement to violence and hate.”
What Slovenians can learn from Chemnitz
Slovenia should follow Germany's example when it comes to dealing with racist activities, Mladina advises:
“There's no difference between the demonstrators in Chemnitz and Šiško's supporters. In both cases what we are dealing with is racists who openly express their hatred and as such represent a danger for democracy, peace and order. But even in Germany - a country with a Nazi past and which no doubt has the toughest laws in the EU in this area - such activities are not sufficient grounds for an arrest. For that, the men must have committed a crime. But notwithstanding Šiško's arrest something else is important: that civil society learns to deal with such occurrences - just as Germany has done.”